Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?

  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?
  • Wilder Park Conservatory & Greenhouse Restoration - Where Did The Plants Go?

With construction starting soon, everything must be cleared out of the Wilder Park Conservatory. The District is trying to save as much as possible of the conservatory plant collection.

The majority of the conservatory display plants came to the District as donations with the understanding that they would be used in the horticulture program including conservatory, grounds, greenhouse education displays or propagation. Some of our plants on display have outgrown their habitat, and as it’s not possible to save the original large specimen we propagated these plants to allow them to maintain a presence in the new conservatory.

The conservatory was built in 1923, and it’s highly unlikely any of the original plants have lasted ninety years. However, we have identified five plants that were present before 1998 that will be propagated:

  • Night Blooming Cereus - two potted cuttings
  • Thirty-year-old Opuntia Cactus - two potted cuttings
  • Date Palm - two potted divisions
  • Bird of Paradise - two potted divisions
  • Ming Asparagus Fern - two potted divisions

Many of the small-to medium-sized plants have been moved to District office locations and a few of the smaller specimens have been saved for stock and will be propagated once we have room in our new growing houses. We are excited about the launch of the Wilder Park Conservatory restoration and look forward to filling it with the best of yesterday’s and today’s plant specimens.