Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate park in San Francisco (updated)
The Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate park is breath taking to visit as both a living museum and a historic landmark in the park. One of the oldest wooden glass houses in the United States, the Conservatory of Flowers has gone to major renovations to keep it is gorgeous and pristine shape and reopened to the public in March 2021. Let’s go check and see what’s the latest at the Conservatory below.
Here’s a tour of the gardens outside of the Conservatory of Flowers below
What to see in the Conservatory?
The Conservatory has five distinct sections to visit from the lowland’s tropics, Highland tropics, aquatic plants, potted plants and special exhibits as detailed below
The First exhibit area covers the lowland tropics
This includes many tropical areas of Central and South America, Mexico, Southeast Asia and Polynesian islands with a variety of hundreds of tropical species displayed that survives in elevations under 3,000-foot level. This includes a variety of gingers, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, heliconia and scented tropical plant species
The Highland tropics area
These region covers plants that survive the cooler rainforest and hill environments over 3,000-foot elevations in tropical areas of Mexico, Central America to South American, Southeast Asia to the Polynesian islands.
Aquatic plant area
This beautifully designed area covers all aquatic plant zones in tropical environments with bog plants, floating aquatic plants and so many different and exotic plants and tropical flowers. The ponds with giant lily pads and various water lily’s steal the show and spotlight in the gardens along with other tropical plants and flowers in the beds surrounding the pond areas. The space is done as a loop trail with gorgeous ponds, wrought iron fencing for observation areas and nice signage and information throughout the loop in this greenhouse. The space is also livened up with glass art, sculpture and the beautiful ironwork throughout the aquatic area of the Conservatory.
The Potted plants section
The Potted plants contain specialized collections of Orchids, Bromeliads, anthuriums and other exotic plant species and flowers that are colorful and fun to explore in this section of plants
Here’s a walking tour experience of the conservatory below
The Special exhibits section at the Conservatory
Always containing a revolving show that features a season or special feature in the plant world, the special exhibits displays are always a popular draw for locals and visitors alike to see what’s new in the plant world or being highlighted as a special focus to enjoy in the conservatory
Here’s a cool night bloom experience that happens certain times of the year
Details to visiting the Conservatory of Flowers and hours
The San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers is open during
Tues – Sunday 10am to 4:30 pm with the last tickets sold on site at 4pm
Closed on Mondays
Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $12 on Friday to Sunday
Kids from 12-17, college students or Seniors or 65 are $7
First Tuesdays of the Month are the free days to visit the Conservatory
Places to visit Just outside the Conservatory of Flowers
The Dahlia Dell
The Dahlia Dell is a popular draw late June to fall season when all the dahlias well cared for with the local Dahlia Society are on full display and in a wonderful ring to walk around and enjoy the various flowers on display. It truly is a treat to see this in season and worth the trip alone to visit Golden Gate Park.
Check out the cool dahlia dell when it is dahlia season below
The Arid and cactus garden
Surrounding the Conservatory on one side and next to the Dahlia dell is an upward sloped garden containing a variety of arid, succulent and cactus plants that thrive in this sunny part of the garden. It’s fun to walk uphill in the sculptured beds to view the massive plantings and also a nice view of the gardens below
Parking around the Conservatory of Flowers
You can find mostly street side parking on the main street of the park or there is a small parking area in the Dahlia dell that has parking spots for visitors to find a spot close to the conservatory
Here’s what else to see around Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate park has so many wonderful public areas and gardens to explore in the park for you to enjoy including:
Walk around beautiful Stow Lake
San Francisco Botanical garden
Explore the Japanese Tea Garden
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Conclusion to visiting the Conservatory of Flowers
So, these are all the most popular and well-loved parts of Golden Gate Park that locals and visitors enjoy including the Conservatory of Flowers. If you have been here, we would love to hear your thoughts or inside tips to visiting the area.
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