San Francisco’s Magical Conservatory of Flowers
San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers is one of the many gems in Golden Gate Park. I’ve blogged about our past visits, but it had been a few years since we were there. Last week, Dave and I remedied that, and we were again in awe of their astounding collection. The glasshouse is magnificent on the outside, and packed with tropical plants inside. Orchids abound. Like a rainforest, orchids are at every level: in pots on the floor, hanging from mounts, and suspended from above. The more we looked, the more fascinating plants we found.
Orchid varieties in the historic glasshouse range from tiny pleurothallids to an enormous Sobralia which towers over visitors. I really enjoyed the variety, especially the rare and rarely-seen species. The non-orchids are pretty spectacular, too. A few are shown in the final two rows of pictures below, including the new growth on a Titan Arum, or Corpse Flower, in the last photo. For weeks, people have been wondering whether it’s a leaf or a flower. Yesterday, the Conservatory announced that they can see the signs that it will be a flower. (Sorry, Instagram will not let that link work unless you’re logged in.) In a couple weeks, it will bloom as one of the largest and stinkiest flowers in the plant world. Fortunately, it didn’t stink when we were there.
If you’re in San Francisco, the magical Conservatory of Flowers is always worth a visit. Check out photos from our past visits below.
- Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park
- And More from the Conservatory of Flowers
- Orchids in the Conservatory of Flowers
- Conservatory of Flowers
- Conservatory of Flowers redux
- Conservatory of Flowers
- More from the Conservatory of Flowers
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