The San Antonio Botanical Garden is a , non-profit

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States, and the city's official botanical garden.

History

The garden was first conceived in the 1940s by Mrs. R. R. Witt and Mrs. Joseph Murphy, who organized the San Antonio Garden Center. The two went on to develop a master plan for a city botanical center in the late 1960s. The site of the master plan was a former limestone quarry and waterworks area owned by the city. Voters approved $265,000 in bonds in 1970, which was the catalyst for funding the new gardens. Ground was broken for the new facilities on July 21, 1976 and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens officially opened to the public on May 3, 1980. The gardens have had two major additions since opening. On February 29, 1988 the Emilio Ambasz designed Lucile Halsell Conservatory opened to the public and later that same year the historic Sullivan Carriage House was moved brick by brick to the botanical garden. Restoration of the building began in 1992, with formal dedication in 1995. The botanical gardens is also undergoing an extensive expansion project including expanding some of the gardens, a local farmers market, and more parking.

Features

Today the garden consists of the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, formal and display gardens, native gardens, an overlook tower and the Sullivan Carriage House: * Lucile Halsell Conservatory (1988) - Designed by award-winning, Argentinian architect Emilio Ambasz this subterranean structure consists of five climate specific greenhouses surrounding a central courtyard. Specimens housed in the structure include alpine plants, aquatic plants, cacti and succulents, carnivorous plants, epiphytes,

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s and

aroid The Araceae are a family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix (botany), spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a s ...

s, tropical

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s, and

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

s and

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

s. The building won several architectural design awards. * Gardens - Entry Gardens, Garden for the Blind, Gertie's Garden, Herb Garden, Formal Beds, Fountain Plaza
Kumamoto En
Old Fashioned Garden, Ornamental Grass Garden, Rose Garden, Sacred Garden,

Biblical garden Biblical gardens are Horticulture, cultivated collections of plants that are named in the Bible. They are a type of theme garden that botanical gardens, public parks, and private gardeners maintain. They are grown in many parts of the world, with ma ...

, Shade Garden, Watersaver Garden, and

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north ...

Arbor. :Kumamoto En (roughly by 85 feet) is a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

reflecting styles and techniques from

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

's 300-year-old Suizenji Park and from

Katsura Detached Palace The , or Katsura Detached Palace, is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant f ...

garden in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. * Native area - plants and structures from the

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region cons ...

piney woods, Texas Hill Country, and South Texas. * Sullivan Carriage House (originally constructed 1896, relocated 1988) - designed by noted architect Alfred Giles for banker Daniel J. Sullivan. The structure was relocated, brick by brick, in 1988 from its original location in downtown San Antonio to the Botanical Gardens. The building was fully restored and dedicated in 1995. The structure now serves as the main entrance to the gardens and its former stables and carriage house contain a restaurant, gift shop, offices as well as event and meeting space.

Gallery

Image:Entrance to San Antonio Botanical Garden, TX IMG_5308.JPG, Entrance to the garden Image:Fountain at San Antonio Botanical Garden IMG_5324.JPG, Fountain Image:San_Antonio_Botanical_Garden_01697.JPG, Lucile Halsell Conservatory Image:SABG1.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory (Entry Garden Greenhouse) Image:SABG2.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory (Palm & Cycad Pavilion from Main Courtyard) Image:SABG3.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory (Desert Pavilion from Main Courtyard) Image:SABG4.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory (Palm & Cycad Pavilion Interior) Image:SABG5.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory Image:SABG6.jpg, Overlook Tower Image:SABG7.jpg, Lucile Halsell Conservatory Image:Lake in Piney Woods Section of San Antonio Botanical Garden IMG_5334.JPG, Lake in Piney Woods section Image:San Antonio viewed from the Botanical Garden IMG_5354.JPG, Downtown San Antonio as seen in the background from the garden

References

External links

San Antonio Botanical Garden
{{San Antonio Botanical gardens in Texas Geography of San Antonio Tourist attractions in San Antonio Parks in San Antonio Protected areas of Bexar County, Texas Buildings and structures in San Antonio Greenhouses in Texas Japanese gardens in the United States

History

Features

Gallery

See also

References

External links