Floral, festive and fabulous. Those are the three words that best describe Houston Botanic Garden’s 2025 Luncheon, dubbed Building Branches. The glamour of Palm Beach came to River Oaks Country Club courtesy of Swift + Company’s Elizabeth Swift, who decked out the ballroom in coral, orange and pink floral patterns.
Not a detail was spared, from the matching textiles on the chair fabric and cloth napkins to the garden-themed porcelain tableware courtesy of Vista Alegre.
This 11th iteration of the annual luncheon was chaired by Denise and David Baggett, Mary and John Eads, and Aimee and Wynne Snoots. Honorees included The Garden Club of Houston and River Oaks Garden Club, both of which have been instrumental in the Houston Botanic Garden’s growth.
Multimedia journalist Brandi Smith served as emcee. In her opening remarks, she spoke to the crowd about the strength of both Houston Botanic Garden and Houstonians alike.
“Since it opened, this garden has weathered some storms, the kind that only Southeast Texas can deliver,” Smith says. “But walking through it this week, I was reminded how resilient the garden is, and how much that resilience comes from the people who care for it.
“Our city blooms because of people who tend, nurture and reimagine spaces so that they can thrive, even after the toughest seasons. Here today, you are those people.”
Keynote speaker Rebecca Gardner, founder of events and retail collective Houses & Parties, delivered an entertaining talk that had the audience roaring with laughter. Gardner spoke about the connection between gardens and parties, before delving into her company’s history and some of its most legendary fetes.
“The Houston Botanic Garden is an environment for connection, just like a party,” she says. “Gardens and parties both create little magic worlds for people to see beauty, to have a good time and to connect.”
Garden supporters dug into lunches of chinois salad with grilled chicken, paired with chilled avocado and cucumber soup demitasee. Key lime pie and chocolate turtle mousse coupe awaited for dessert. But perhaps sweetest of all was the gift that each garden aficionado took home: a free signed copy of Gardner’s first book, A Screaming Blast! (Rizzoli, 2025).
PC Seen: The Houston Botanic Garden team including board chair Alberto Cardenas, Jr., president and CEO Jill Barry, board secretary Nancy O’Connor Abendshein, and treasurer/former City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker; Courtney Hopson; CAMH co-director and chief curator Ryan Dennis, co-director and COO Melissa Luján; Katharine Barthelme; Ceron and Tarek El-Bjeirmi; Fady Armanious; Hallie Vanderhider; Katherine Phelps; Marnie Greenwood; Elizabeth Young; Alecia Harris; Susie and Mel Glasscock; Shelli Lindley; Jenna Lindley; John and Cherie Lindley; Lucie Arnoldy; The Nat Note’s Natalie Steen; Biscuit Home’s Bailey McCarthy; Illa Gaunt; Leslie Pitts; Maggie Jenkins; Meredith Chastang; Liz Anders; and PaperCity’s Catherine D. Anspon, Monica Bickers, Dani Kattan and Caitlin Hsu.