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Explore: San Francisco Parks & Public Spaces

Conservatory of Flowers

The Conservatory of Flowers is one of Golden Gate Park’s most treasured landmarks.

The greenhouse and botanical garden holds a vast collection of rare and unusual plants. With five different galleries with their own distinct ecosystems, you’ll be amazed by both the diversity, ingenuity, and beauty of plants, as well as the greenhouse itself.

Directions

Neighborhood

Inner Richmond
Inner Sunset

Address

100 John F Kennedy Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118

Hours

Tues-Sun 10am-4:30pm

Features & Amenities

  • ADA Accessible
  • Bench
  • Bike Racks
  • Public Art
  • Restrooms

  • In 1995, a windstorm caused $3.5 million of damage to the Conservatory of Flowers. Friends of Rec and Park, one of the precursor organizations to SF Parks Alliance, supported a fundraising campaign to renovate the Conservatory. The campaign eventually raised $25 million, and it reopened in 2003. Following the campaign’s great success, Friends of Rec and Park changed its name to the San Francisco Parks Trust.

  • The Conservatory of Flowers is a national landmark! Not only was it the first formal structure built in Golden Gate Park, but it is also one of the last surviving municipal wood and glass greenhouses in the United States. It was originally purchased as a prefabricated kit by wealthy businessman and philanthropist James Lick in 1876, but he passed before it could be assembled. The greenhouse then remained packed up in boxes on his property until 1877, when a group of businessmen purchased and gifted it to the city of San Francisco, which later opened it to the public in 1879.

  • To learn more about the Conservatory and get involved, visit their website.

  • Read more on our Bench Commemoration page.

  • Information line: 415-831-2090