Texas Discovery Gardens

Name

Texas Discovery Gardens

Legal name

Texas Discovery Gardens

Website

https://txdg.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Texas Discovery Gardens is a 501c3 nonprofit operating a 7.5-acre organic urban garden in Dallas's Fair Park, featuring a two-story tropical butterfly house, reptile exhibits, and garden trains. It serves families, K-12 schools, corporate clients, and wedding/event hosts through admissions, memberships, educational programs, and venue rentals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Botanical Garden

NAICS

Zoos and Botanical Gardens (71213)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Zoos, Aquariums & Botanical Gardens (Educational Collections) (THAJADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Parks, Gardens & Botanical Attractions (THAJACAH), Educational Adventure Programs (Outdoor Education, Skill Development) (THAAAAAO)

Keywords

• Public garden attractions
• Butterfly house exhibits
• Environmental education programs
• Wedding venue rentals
• Youth nature camps

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Venue Admissions: Daily admission fees for general public access to gardens, butterfly house, snake and reptile resort, outdoor playscape, garden trains, and entire 7.5-acre grounds. Pricing tiers for adults, seniors, children, military, teachers, and first responders.
2. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership programs offering unlimited admissions with tiered pricing: Solo ($50), Dual ($80), Family ($120), Family Plus ($180), Family Extra ($240), and Photographer's Membership ($300).
3. Birthday Party Rentals: Venue rental for birthday parties at multiple locations (The Meadow $400, The Pavilion $300, The Playscape $350) with optional add-ons including butterfly releases, bounce houses, crafts, and critter encounters.
4. Corporate and Social Events: Venue rentals for corporate events including seminars, galas, award banquets, casino nights, cocktail mixers, political fundraisers, and celebrations of life. Catering and event coordination services.
5. Wedding Venue Rentals: Wedding ceremonies and receptions at multiple venues including Grand Hall (up to 400 cocktail-style), Butterfly House, Circular Lawn (up to 150 guests), and Grand Allée (up to 300 guests). Also offers ceremony-only rentals.
6. Gift Shop Sales: Retail sales of nature-themed jewelry, handbags, butterfly raising kits, educational books, axolotl keepsakes, butterfly specimen walls, and wildflower seeds.
7. Proposal Packages: After-hours private proposal packages ($500 for up to 15 guests) and business-hours proposal packages ($225 including butterfly release and photographer admission).
8. Photography Sessions: Photoshoot fees for professional photography sessions: $150 without changing room, $175 with changing room. After-hours photoshoots $500. Photographer's Membership provides unlimited shoots for $300/year.
9. Plant Sales: Seasonal plant sales featuring propagated plants including pollinator and nectar plants, with knowledgeable staff and volunteers assisting customers.
10. Summer and Spring Break Camps: Educational camps for children ages 4-12 and teens (ages 13-17) with STEM-focused activities, outdoor exploration, and nature-based learning. Pricing from $170-$355 depending on membership status and camp type.
11. Educational Programs: School field trip programs, scout badge programs, and homeschool days. Pricing: $10-12 per student for educational programs with outreach options available at $8/student plus travel fees.
12. Butterfly Releases: Live butterfly release experiences at $75 per release (includes 2 butterflies, 2 certificates, admission for two guests, and discussion with resident entomologist).
13. Donations: Charitable donations from visitors and supporters to support the nonprofit educational organization's mission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Texas Discovery Gardens operates a 7.5-acre organically maintained urban public garden in Dallas Fair Park, providing paid admissions to the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium, Snake and Reptile Resort, outdoor playscape, G-gauge garden trains, and a rotating art gallery. It supplements admissions with annual memberships, venue rentals for weddings, corporate events and birthday parties, butterfly release experiences, photography sessions, and a portfolio of educational programs including school field trips, scout badge workshops, homeschool days, and seasonal youth camps.

Product overview

Texas Discovery Gardens operates as a 501c3 nonprofit educational organization offering a diverse portfolio of visitor experiences and educational programs centered around its 7.5-acre organically maintained urban garden facility in Dallas Fair Park. The core visitor experience encompasses general admission access to interconnected attractions including the flagship Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium (a two-story tropical vivarium), the Snake and Reptile Resort, G-gauge Garden Trains, the Greenhouse, and the Discovery Art Gallery. The organization supplements its attraction portfolio with venue rental services for private events including weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, and marriage proposals, along with specialized offerings like butterfly releases and professional photography sessions. Educational programming represents a significant product pillar, encompassing structured school field trips, scout badge programs, monthly homeschool days, and seasonal summer and spring break camps for children. The membership program provides tiered annual access passes, while regular plant sales offer propagated pollinator and native plants to visitors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• General Admission

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 22,000 volunteer hours contributed annually by dedicated volunteers, representing significant community engagement and cost savings.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles8 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• City of DallascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTexas Discovery Gardens is a 501c3 nonprofit educational organization partially supported by the City of Dallas. The organization hosts its facility at historic Fair Park and participates in the City of Dallas Public Art Program, hosting installations like the 'Imago' sculpture series by ie creative.
• State Fair of TexascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with State Fair of Texas dating back to history at the Texas Centennial World's Fair. TDG is located within Fair Park and provides free passes to TDG members during the State Fair. TDG membership includes free passes to State Fair grounds.
• Dallas Independent School District (DISD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with DISD for educational field trips and programs. Students participate in educational experiences at the gardens as part of school programming.
• ARCOminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPresented in partnership with ARCO for the Once Upon a Garden storytime series featuring children's book authors.
• WhoseBooksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPresented in partnership with WhoseBooks for the Once Upon a Garden storytime series featuring children's book authors.
• DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocated near DART Green Line stations (Fair Park and Martin Luther King) enabling public transit access. DART routes service both stations for visitor convenience.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• New York Botanical Garden: Iconic U.S. public botanical garden offering living collections, conservatories, education, weddings, exhibitions, and memberships. Comparable in product mix and nonprofit governance model but operates at a far larger national scale than TDG.
• Longwood Gardens: One of the premier public display gardens in the U.S., offering themed gardens, conservatories, event rentals, educational programming, and memberships. Comparable in business model mix (admissions + memberships + events + education + plant sales) but at much larger scale and broader scope than TDG.
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Major U.S. public botanical garden with conservatories, education, event venues, plant sales, and a global conservation mission. Comparable in mission and product breadth but at a far larger scale and national footprint.

Regional players

• San Antonio Botanical Garden: Major Texas botanical garden offering gardens, educational programming, seasonal events, and venue rentals. Comparable in business model (admissions + memberships + events + camps + plant sales) but serves a different metro and does not directly compete in DFW.
• Houston Botanic Garden: Newer Texas public botanic garden offering themed gardens, education, and event rentals in the Houston metro. Comparable in core offerings (gardens, education, events) but operates in a separate geographic market from TDG.
• Mercer Botanic Gardens: Harris County-operated botanical garden in Humble, TX, featuring themed gardens, event venue rentals, and educational programming. Comparable in mission and product mix but located in the Houston metro rather than DFW.

Direct peers

• Fort Worth Botanic Garden: Adjacent-metro botanical garden operated alongside the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Closely comparable to TDG as a regional public botanical garden offering gardens, educational programming, event venue rentals, and membership; both compete for DFW-area family and tourist visitation.
• Cockrell Butterfly Center at HMNS: Three-story tropical rainforest butterfly conservatory inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Directly comparable to TDG's Butterfly House and Insectarium as the premier indoor butterfly experience in Texas and a benchmark for live butterfly releases and entomology programming.
• Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden: The largest botanical garden in the DFW metroplex (66 acres) and a direct comparable to Texas Discovery Gardens in core offering (gardens, event rentals, educational programs, seasonal events). Both serve DFW visitors with botanical gardens plus venue rental and membership programs; Dallas Arboretum is the primary direct competitor for weddings, corporate events, and family visits in the same metro.

Emerging players

• National Butterfly Center: Mission, TX nonprofit dedicated to butterfly conservation, native plant habitat, and pollinator education with public gardens and visitor programs. Comparable to TDG's pollinator-conservation programming and native-plant propagation model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/texas-discovery-gardens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Texas Discovery Gardens