Como Park Conservatory

  Como Park has many attractions. Come back tomorrow and I'll show you some of them.

Blooming Butterflies

Butterflies live a precarious existence because of habitat destruction, pesticides and collection. Como Park Zoo and Conservatory is doing its part to help save the butterfly by planting native plant species providing food and shelter for butterflies in some of its outdoor gardens. The Blooming Butterflies Exhibit allows people to walk within an enclosed tent and move among the butterflies. The Exhibit which runs until September was made possible by the generous support of Como Friends, and the plants and materials were donated by local businesses: Linder's Garden Center, Monrovia and Interlock Concrete Works. Quite a display, and it's AWESOME!

Bonsai Ginkgo

Returning to the Midwest from months in Mazatlán, México tries one's soul. A trip to the beautiful Como Park helps the transition 'til more pleasant weather arrives. The Bonsai Gallery next to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory is dedicated to Japanese art and the conservatory features the largest collection of bonsai trees in the Midwest.

Amorphophallus titanum

This rare plant had received a great deal of press as an international botanical event so I went to the Conservatory to see and smell it for myself. It began its bloom period on Wednesday, March 9 and lasted approximately 36 hours, according to a guide. By the time I got there on Thursday at approximately 10 a.m., the plant was dying and losing its bloom--the odor that is likened to rotting flesh was gone.

The flower is lime green with a phallic-like stalk and, when blooming, has a leafy purple and green "cape." Its soil temperature is monitored and at the base of the stalk are seedlike structures, which turn out to be the male and female features. The pollen is to be collected and spread around so that other corpses may bloom! The flowering version of the plant is so rare that plant experts know how many times it has happened in conservatories since it was discovered in Sumatra in the late 19th century. Ours was no. 122, one of the smallest on record, topping out at around 29 inches.

Alas I missed the peak blooming and olfactory experience and will now have to wait for 15 more years before it blooms again! I wonder if it's worth it?!

Slothful

A sleepy sloth or a sloth sleeping? I want back to the Como Conservatory to photograph the much publicized "corpse plant" (more tomorrow), and couldn't resist a visit to my favorite friend in the tropical area of the building. Don't malign sloths; they have the right idea, especially during these gray, rainy days!

The Fern Room

Fern Room
A Palette of Delicate Greens
Experience the ambiance of dappled light, a gentle waterfall and floating mist. Walk among green lacey foliage and step back in time through a garden of living fossils. Ferns are one of the most ancient groups of plant surviving today. The Fern Room at Marjorie McNeely Conservatory contains over 100 species of ferns and fern allies. (From the Como Conservatory website)

The light from the conservatory windows adversely affected the exposure, and my Canon point-and-shoot camera didn't seem to be able to compensate. I think you can visualize the beauty of the place from these photos, however.

Sunken Garden-Statue

Yesterday I showed you the exterior of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park. Today I have a photo taken in the Sunken Garden, one of the most delightful gardens in the building. Tomorrow I will bring you to an equally delightful part of the Conservatory, the Fern Room.

The Conservatory hosts more than 300 wedding ceremonies each year! Couples can choose to have their ceremony inside the Conservatory in either the Sunken Garden or North Garden. The two outdoor locations, the Japanese Garden and The Excedra, are available seasonally.

Sunken Garden: A Visual Symphony of Color For a Virtual Tour of the Garden, click on this site for a great view.

The Sunken Garden in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park presents a seasonal potpourri of fantastic floral shows, with five popular themes each year. Enjoy amazing azaleas and festive poinsettias in winter, multicolored tulips in spring, prized roses and geraniums in summer and cheery chrysanthemums in autumn.