Places with purpose
The Conservatory is primarily split into two main areas: our in-ground display rooms and our potted botanical collections. Each section was designed with a different emphasis, but both play a crucial role in supporting botanical education, research, and conservation efforts at the University.
The in-ground displays at the Conservatory are open to the public and represent four climate zones with distinct climates, landscapes, and plant communities. Each climate zone is designed to evoke the flora found in one or more regions of the world and has been carefully curated to demonstrate core concepts that drive botanical diversity across our planet. An immersive depiction of these concepts is useful for many university courses, but anyone can appreciate these plantings and the themes they are built around.
Opposite to the display rooms, the Conservatory houses a potted botanical collection. These plants form the majority of the species housed in our facilities and are maintained for the use of University courses, scientific research, and conservation. They represent a wide range of plant diversity, but also contain focal groups that explore taxonomic depth (such as gymnosperms, bromeliads, and oaks) as well as shared functional attributes (carnivorous plants, etc.).
Finally, the Conservatory houses a group of plants we consider to be research plants. These may currently be involved in active research outside our facility, or are legacy plants from active research we hold onto as reference collections.
Review the full inventory of the Conservatory’s living collection, updated monthly.
