conservatory

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A traditional conservatory at the Horniman Museum in London

A modern Conservatory. A German "Wintergarten" with open blinds and Anemometer (top left)

A conservatory is a glass and metal structure traditionally found in the garden of a large house or public park. Modern conservatories are smaller, can be made of PVC, and are often added to houses for home improvement purposes.

The traditional nineteenth century conservatory was a large greenhouse used for growing tender and rare plants, or, less often, for birds and rare animals – sometimes with the plants and animals living together. An orangery is similar to a large greenhouse or conservatory and was used originally to winter citrus trees and house exotic plants.

Many cities, especially those in cold climates and with large European populations, have built municipal conservatories to display tropical plants and hold flower displays. This type of conservatory was popular in the early nineteenth century, and by the end of the century people were also giving them a social use (e.g., tea parties). Conservatory architecture varies from typical Victorian glasshouses to modern styles, such as geodesic domes. Many were large and impressive structures and are included in the list below.

Smaller garden conservatories became popular in the second half of the twentieth century, as places which are part-greenhouses, for conserving plants, and part-recreational, as a solarium or sunroom. They are often used as an extra room rather than for horticulture.

In the UK, a conservatory can also refer to a smaller glass enclosure attached to a house. In other parts of the world this is referred to as a sunroom.

List of prominent conservatories

Australia

• Ballarat Botanical Gardens
• Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

Belgium

• Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

Canada

• Muttart Conservatory (Edmonton, Alberta)
• Bloedel Floral Conservatory ((Vancouver, B.C.)

China

• Beijing Botanical Garden (Beijing)
• Shanghai Botanical Garden (Shanghai)
• South China Botanical Garden (Qingyang, Guangzhou)

Denmark

• Copenhagen Botanical Gardens

United Kingdom

England

• Kew Gardens (southwest London)
• Chatsworth House (Derbyshire)
• Eden project (Cornwall)
• Syon House (west London)

Northern Ireland

• Belfast Botanic Gardens

Scotland

• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
• Kibble Palace

U.S.A.

• Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (Detroit)
• Biosphere 2 (Oracle, Arizona)
• Bolz Conservatory (Madison, Wisconsin)
• Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens (Buffalo, New York)
• Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center (Pine Mountain, Georgia)
• Climatron (St. Louis)
• Conservatory of Flowers (San Francisco)
• Desert Garden Conservatory (San Marino, California)
• Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver)
• Des Moines Botanical Center (Des Moines)
• Enid Haupt Conservatory at New York Botanical Garden (New York)
• Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory (Fort Wayne)
• Franklin Park Conservatory (Columbus, Ohio)
• Garfield Park Conservatory (Chicago)
• Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens (Indianapolis)
• Lamberton Conservatory at Highland Park(Rochester, New York)
• Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore (Baltimore)
• Krohn Conservatory (Cincinnati)
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Conservatory {Richmond, Virginia}
• Lincoln Park Conservatory (Chicago)
• Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (St. Paul)
• Mitchell Park Conservatory (Milwaukee)
• Moody Gardens (Galveston)
• Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge Conservatory (Oklahoma City)
• Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens (Pittsburgh)
• Steinhardt Conservatory (Brooklyn)
• United States Botanic Garden (Washington, D.C.)
• Volunteer Park Conservatory (Seattle, Washington)
• W. W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory (Tacoma, Washington)

See also

• Roof lantern
• History of the Conservatory A longer history, including the pioneering work of Sir Joseph Paxton.

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