Tending to Our Brand

San Antonio Botanical Garden’s Brand Reimagined

As the Garden enters 2026, we officially unveil our new brand identity, a striking evolution from our beloved past — featuring new welcome signs, vibrant gift shop merchandise, a refreshed website, and more. This is more than a cosmetic makeover; it is a strategic reimagining of our mission in action. To support this reimagined identity, the Garden chose Butler, a brand partner that could honor legacy while pushing toward an ambitious future.

“At Butler, we’re focused on developing brand communications for organizations that steward, protect, and promote the natural world,” said Adam Butler, Co-Founder & CEO. “The Garden does this work in profound ways. The master plan and ambition of the leadership team attracted us to this opportunity. We are proud to be a part of enabling a new season in the Garden’s growth.”

SABG has always been a place where imaginations can run wild, whether you’re an eight-year-old who loves bugs or a plant scientist trying to save Texas plants from extinction.

Our partnership began in the heart of the Garden on a rainy February morning when Andrew Labay, Chief Mission Officer for the San Antonio Botanical Garden, welcomed the Butler team to experience the sights and sounds of nearly 40 acres of natural beauty. Even during the quiet of midwinter, they found a Garden full of life and the promise of a lively spring bloom. This first experience was essential — because before the team could begin shaping the brand, they had to understand the essence of the place, its people, and its purpose.

Sowing the Seeds

The first priority was to dig in and listen to staff, volunteers, board members, and visitors to understand what makes the Garden special — and to ask questions that went beyond surface-level observations.

“The Garden has an incredible history and roots in San Antonio. We needed to honor that and the people with existing connections to it,” said Jessica Smith, Strategist, Butler. “That started with meeting and listening to as many people as possible, and asking, ‘What matters most to you?’”

Next, a full-day brand blitz — a structured workshop led by Butler — was designed to align key stakeholders on the leadership’s future vision, uncover critical obstacles and opportunities for the brand’s evolution, and build deeper empathy for priority audiences, ultimately yielding a clear, inspired narrative for telling the Garden’s story.

A common refrain from the day? The Garden is a “hidden gem” — people who have not visited simply do not know the fun that awaits them. This became a key opportunity for the new brand: how to evoke a sense of wonder and possibility, inviting visitors of all ages and abilities to see themselves enjoying their time at the Garden.

“The new brand needed to be more than just inviting,” said Marty Butler, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer. “It had to resonate with donors, volunteers, and members; showcase the Garden’s international recognition; and evoke its stunning biodiversity.”

“This rebrand brings the scope of the San Antonio Botanical Garden into the light, expressing who we are today and where we’re headed.”

Julie Wilkinson, Immediate Past Board Chair, San Antonio Botanical Garden

Our new brand invites those who have yet to discover the Garden and offers a deeper understanding for those who already know us. It brings greater visibility to our commitment to plant conservation, pollinator habitats, and land and water stewardship, and celebrates the Lucile Halsell Conservatory as one of our city’s most iconic and enduring structures.”

Let’s dig deeper.

The San Antonio Botanical Garden has a deep history in the region as a leader in innovation, plant and resource conservation, and education. The icons in the new logo represent the pieces of the Garden that make it iconic, from the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, to its physical location in the city and its important work in water conservation. The tagline, ‘Grow curious,’ is an invitation for visitors and staff alike to keep on exploring.

Unfurling the Vision

“There was a lot to work with,” said Barrett Fry, Director of Design, Butler. “We drew inspiration from the land, the history, the Garden’s world-renowned architecture, and its bold vision for the future.”

The logo itself is a masterful example of this. It showcases some of the multifaceted gems the Garden has to offer: the iconic conservatory designed by Emilio Ambasz; a bright orange monarch, symbolizing San Antonio’s status as a Monarch Champion City and the Garden’s official Monarch Waystation; a loamy hillside, evoking the Garden’s topography; and a gentle stream, an homage to our incredible conservation efforts including the Water Saver Community. The new brand’s bright, bold color palette is directly inspired by the flora and fauna of the Garden, from the endangered Zapata bladderpod to the native Texas mountain laurel, and even the plant hybridization work with a color inspired by Moy’s hibiscus.

When a significant change is approaching, honest concerns are natural and expected. Butler’s role as a change leader created space for all conversations, leading diverse perspectives to align around the Garden’s future. Ultimately, the final brand version was embraced as bold, intriguing, and refreshing.

A brand is much more than a logo. It’s a whole identity system that includes colors, typography, a narrative, and a tagline. Butler used all of these elements to help reinforce what makes the Garden so special.

Our new logo showcases four icons, representing four essential building blocks of our education and conservation work.

Architecture: SABG’s one-of-a-kind conical shaped conservatory designed by famed architect Emilio Ambasz.

Pollinators: SABG is located along the Monarch butterfly migration path and provides critical habitat.

Land: SABG is located on a hilltop and is one of the highest points in San Antonio.

Water: 70% of the Garden’s irrigation systems use recycled water, conserving millions of gallons of drinking water annually while maintaining our collections.

The Future in Bloom

With our new brand identity, the Garden is prepared to dream even bigger, continuing the legacy of inspiring curiosity among visitors of all ages and abilities. This transition is rooted in the Garden’s key audiences and a strong commitment to honoring a rich history and a bold vision for the future. “We take pride in our part in the Garden’s intention to protect the diversity of our great state by showcasing the joy it brings to humanity,” said Amber Byfield, Senio Collaboration Manager, Butler.

“We’re building on 45 years of inspiring curiosity as we step boldly into our next chapter.

Our new brand invites people to discover the wonder waiting for them at the Garden while showcasing the critical conservation work that positions us among the world’s leading botanical gardens. We can’t wait to see how this sparks curiosity in our community and beyond.”

Katherine Trumble, President and CEO, San Antonio Botanical Garden