Katherine Trumble, CEO & President, San Antonio Botanical Garden

In an interview with Invest:, Katherine Trumble, CEO and president of San Antonio Botanical Garden, discussed how its new master plan and many initiatives would build a statewide leader in plant conservation. “By operating from a mindset of abundance, we continue to grow together, because San Antonio needs and deserves world-class cultural institutions,” Trumble added.

What elements are covered in the recently unveiled master plan for San Antonio Botanical Garden?

The 10-year master plan was developed in partnership with our community and Reed Hilderbrand, a nationally respected landscape architecture firm that’s worked with top gardens across the country. The two central themes in this plan are plant conservation and access. The resulting transformations will be the physical embodiment of those two goals, becoming the statewide leader in plant conservation and a garden for all. 

Phase one projects include a new horticulture campus; a new conservation and education building to catapult our plant conservation programs; a seed bank to service the entire southwest region; more classrooms to scale our programs; research space; a tissue culture lab; as well as a 2.5-acre pollinator garden, because San Antonio is a champion city for monarch butterflies, which will be at the heart of our garden and become an incredibly iconic view for our city. We’ll also be reimagining our Texas native trails, which will include the expansion of a new West Texas garden, because much of what we’re collecting in our rare and endangered collections comes from West Texas, and also a vineyard to celebrate the Texas wine industry, which is now an over $20 billion industry for our state. 

How have the garden’s new offerings attracted more visitors?

In the last 18 months, we’ve leaned heavily into our relationship with Visit San Antonio and made great strides with group sales by partnering with companies like CityPASS and Old Town Trolley Tours in town. We have also been focusing on elevating our culinary art programs, which is an exciting way to introduce people to our mission of enriching lives through plants and nature. 

How does the garden leverage technology and innovation in enriching the visitor experience?

We use data to see where in the garden people are going, and how long they’re there, and what types of programs are selling out. Our goal is to become a cultural institution that’s part of the visitors’ lives, not one that they just visit once every five years. That’s why we offer programming for all phases of life and all walks of life. The diverse offerings consist of more than a thousand programs a year. The ability to use data helps us figure out what’s working and pivot when we need to. 

How do the garden’s educational initiatives impact interest in horticulture from the surrounding region?

Our school tour programs have grown substantially over the last few years, comprising over eight offerings for nearly 30,000 students annually. We are also invested in expanding our internship programs with high school and college students. Some of these people are going to get their horticulture degree later in life. We work with all the local opportunities, and we’re expanding those partnerships with online horticulture programs. Another group of patrons we’re working to grow is our teen audience. While we are doing well with Millennials, Generation Z, and families, we are curating strong teen internship programs that teach real-life skills.

What is your strategy to ensure year-long interest from across different population segments?

We have special exhibitions throughout the year. In 2024, we had the world premiere of Huntopia, which ran from September through October to champion the work of an internationally renowned artist, Hunt Slonem. We also launched Illuminate, an immersive after-dark lantern exhibition that captivates visitors with illuminated displays that blend art, nature, and culture in a celebration of light. Illuminate returns in November 2025 and invites visitors to explore larger-than-life sculptures and intricate designs. We know visitors increasingly want Instagrammable moments. That is something we think about when we’re planning future exhibitions. We’re also excited about Otherwild, an exhibition we’re doing next March by a group of artists called Poetic Kinetics. Otherwild showcases a collection of kinetic trees and a stunning sky net that will be installed in the conservatory courtyard. 

How has the private event and rental segment performed over the past year?

We’re seeing increasing growth in our private rentals. Convention center business downtown directly benefits us, because when large conference groups come, they want to do off-site events as well. We’re savvy in attracting those groups, especially with the increased focus on building relationships with tourists, and not just the local audience. We see primarily wedding events, and corporate business has become a growth opportunity for us. 

Which initiatives will be implemented to support the city’s effort in attracting new visitors? 

Our new brand will be launched in January 2026, with a bias toward attracting first-time visitors. That’s something we’re heavily investing in right now. We’re also opening an orchid pavilion in the fall of 2026, which will grow our orchid collection from 150 species and varieties to more than 600. Our goal is to become the first garden in Texas with a nationally accredited orchid collection. 

What are the challenges affecting the broader tourism industry in San Antonio?

As we build our budget, we make a point to be diversified in terms of where our revenue is coming in by balancing earned and contributed revenue. We are cautiously optimistic about the future. We are closely monitoring the tourism trends, because San Antonio receives the most tourists than any other major city in Texas. It is a tourist-driven city, and the numbers from the downtown area can create a ripple effect. 

What is your outlook for the garden in the next few years?

Besides working on the orchid pavilion, we are doing a program study for the new master plan’s phase one projects. In August 2025, we launched a project called the Texas Hill Country Tree Restoration Initiative, with fifteen partner nonprofits and groups already confirmed. Beginning this fall, we will collect seeds, grow, and plant 50,000 trees in the next three to five years, to directly benefit areas devastated by recent floods in the Texas Hill Country. We see that as our mission in action, and we’re excited about the ability to use our plant conservation efforts to protect the important ecology in those areas. We’re also excited about elevating the garden through a rebrand and more thoughtful collaborations with other botanical gardens nationwide, which will bring more attention to San Antonio. One of the ways we’re doing that is by leading a partnership with the Simons Foundation in New York City and six other gardens called Math in Bloom in 2026. 

How does the garden leverage public–private partnership to promote its initiatives?

We collaborate with the American Public Gardens Association and the Directors of Large Gardens. That’s how we identified the other partners we wanted to work with in our work with the Simons Foundation. Locally, all of the CEOs from cultural institutions meet quarterly, and many collaborations happen through those meetings. We seek to help one another, instead of thinking as competitors. By operating from a mindset of abundance, we continue to grow together because San Antonio needs and deserves world-class cultural institutions. We also strive to build relationships with the city, the county, and the state. This past year, we also launched the Texas Public Garden Coalition, a partnership with the top six botanical gardens in Texas to enhance advocacy at the state level.