For 200 years, various icons have represented Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at different moments in its history. Now, a new brand identity marks the next chapter in its evolution. Discover the story.
Since 1827, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) has been represented by an evolving collection of symbols. Over the past 200 years, a Roman goddess, a gardener planting a seedling, and a familiar tree have each taken a turn as the face of an organization whose influence has grown alongside Philadelphia.
Now, as PHS celebrates its 200th anniversary, a new visual identity marks another chapter in that history. But how do you design a look for an organization that is both deeply rooted in tradition and continually finding new ways to put gardening to work?
In 1836, nine years after its founding, PHS President Horace Binney purchased a copper printing plate depicting Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit growing, for $300. Used for membership certificates, the classical illustration reflected its early interest in horticultural excellence and botanical tradition. It was a fitting emblem for a young PHS founded by enthusiasts eager to advance the knowledge and practice of gardening. Two centuries later, Pomona still appears on PHS award certificates and in books stamped by the PHS McLean Library.
A different figure appeared in 1892: a small gardener planting a seedling, affectionately known as the “Little Man.” Dressed in work clothes and a brimmed hat, he stands in a cultivated garden, tending a young plant with a greenhouse visible in the background. The illustration would represent PHS for more than a century, offering a more familiar image of gardening grounded in the everyday work of growing plants. Unlike the mythological Pomona, the Little Man celebrated the gardener himself, reflecting the skill and care behind the PHS’s founding passion.
In 1994, the organization adopted a tree logo, which was then updated in 2013, during a period of expanding community programs and regional influence. The tree offered a fitting symbol for PHS at the time, whose ambitions had grown well beyond its early horticultural exhibitions and educational initiatives. As PHS deepened its relationships with neighborhood residents and community partners, gardening became an increasingly visible part of Philadelphia’s civic life. The logo accompanied a period when PHS was helping more people experience the benefits of greener surroundings, reflecting a growing belief that horticulture could contribute to the health and well-being of an entire city.
Each of these symbols reflected something about PHS at a particular moment in its history. But as PHS’s role in Philadelphia expanded, its identity needed to tell a larger story.
As PHS approached its 200th anniversary, the development of its new Third Century Strategic Plan prompted an important question: How could the organization build greater awareness of its work and inspire more people to become part of its mission?
The opportunity was especially clear in the gap between what people knew about PHS and the role it played in their daily lives. The Philadelphia Flower Show was widely recognized, but the organization’s contributions to neighborhood greening efforts and public gardens and landscapes across Greater Philadelphia were not always associated with the same institution.
The challenge was to create a visual identity that could make those connections more apparent while remaining flexible enough to represent the many dimensions of PHS.
“People know the Flower Show, but they don’t always realize how much of PHS’s work happens right in their own neighborhoods,” said Rob Feinberg, PHS Chief Marketing, Communications and Sales Officer. “We wanted an identity that would help people make that connection and see PHS as part of their everyday lives.”
So, the organization set out to reinvent the brand to allow it to better reflect PHS’s evolving role and make its mission more recognizable to the people and communities it serves.
To craft this new brand, PHS worked with Philadelphia-based creative studio Smith & Diction. The process involved nearly a year of collaboration with PHS staff, leadership, board members, and stakeholders. Together, they explored how the organization’s history, horticultural expertise, and connection to Philadelphia could inform a new visual language powerful enough to take PHS into its next century and beyond.
“The work that PHS does is truly incredible,” says Chara Smith, co-founder of Smith & Diction. “They are a world-class organization, so we wanted to give them a world-class brand. We wanted to give them a brand that felt as beautiful and diverse as the gardens they tend, as inviting as the neighborhood efforts they host, and as showstopping as the Philadelphia Flower Show.”
The brand centers around a new wordmark—a custom “PHS” with three distinct plants growing upward from the letters. Rather than relying on a single botanical symbol, the design embraces the variety of the plant world, creating an immediate connection that places gardening at the heart of PHS’s mission. The forms feel alive, poised to sway in the wind, with PHS’s name as a foundation where good things are taking root. The arrangement of plants also references Philadelphia’s street grid, grounding the imagery in the city where its members first gathered in 1827.
But the brand extends far beyond the logo itself. An expanded color palette draws inspiration from the broad diversity of colors in nature. A suite of custom, hand-drawn botanical illustrations helps convey the breadth and dimensionality of PHS’s work, from neighborhood greening initiatives to the Philadelphia Flower Show. The brand system also makes room for a more expressive side of PHS. Its bold typography—based on historical PHS fonts—and playful botanical imagery can take on different personalities, allowing the brand to feel equally at home in a neighborhood gardening program or a major cultural event.
“This brand was not a simple one to craft,” says Smith. “The organization does so many different things; we needed a brand that could stretch and flex and bend to feel at home whether it was representing a local community garden or on a world stage. So from color, to typography, to illustration, we set out to give the team at PHS a diverse toolkit that allows them to meet all their different audiences, while always tying back to the same core brand and feeling.”
The design is intended to make something increasingly clear: PHS is more than a Flower Show, a gardening resource, or a collection of community greening programs. It is an organization that brings people together through gardening to improve the places where they live. The refreshed identity makes those connections more visible, giving PHS a consistent presence across its many activities while also preserving the individuality of each effort.
Like a garden, our new identity will grow and evolve with the seasons, coming to life in new ways across PHS and the communities we serve over the next year and beyond. - Rob Feinberg, PHS Chief Marketing, Communications and Sales
Hear from Philadelphia-based creative studio Smith & Diction as they share the thinking behind the design, from its botanical influences and connection to Philadelphia to creating a brand that reflects the many ways PHS brings people and plants together.
The introduction of the new brand also coincides with the launch of a redesigned PHS website, making it easier to discover programs, explore events, and connect with opportunities to get involved. Two centuries after Pomona first appeared on a PHS membership certificate, the organization has a new visual identity that reflects its ambitions for the future. While the icons have changed, the core belief in gardening’s power to transform lives and strengthen communities remains at the heart of PHS.
As PHS enters its third century, its ambition is to bring the benefits of gardening to more people and places than ever before, guided by a vision of every person, every place gardening for the greater good.
