A gorgeous Victorian glasshouse is the focus of this episode.
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Featured image courtesy of Phipps Conservatory
Transcript:
Hey there, Garden Lovers,
Today is February 11, and this is A Garden A Day with Mædunbroc Gardens.
Thank you for listening.
If you have ever lived in Pittsburgh or even if you’ve visited the Steel City enough, you know the name Henry Phipps. He’s right up there with Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and Henry Clay Frick.
Phipps grew up in Pittsburgh, went to school with Andrew Carnegie, and eventually became Carnegie Steel Company’s second largest shareholder allowing Phipps to develop a rather comfortable personal financial situation.
Phipps believed that those who have achieved great wealth were responsible for giving that wealth for the good of the public and for establishing institutions dedicated to that purpose.
One such gift to the public is the topic of today’s episode. So where are we? Today, we are exploring Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Construction of Phipps Conservatory, a Victorian-style glasshouse, began in 1892 and was completed in August of the following year. The Conservatory opened to the public on December 7, 1893.
The glasshouse contained nine rooms including the Palm House in its center, two rooms for tropical plants, a show house for ferns, and a room for aquatic plants.
If you listened to the episode on Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on February 7, you heard me mention the giant Amazon waterlilies and the habit of people standing on the lily for a photo op. Well, it happened at Phipps, too.
Many of the first plants housed in the conservatory came from the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Over 6,000 plants greeted visitors on opening day, and Henry Phipps presented a white marble Venus statue on that day which is still resting in the Palm Court.
Expansion began only two years later when the South Conservatory and propagation greenhouses were added. By this time, the conservatory had received a reputation for chrysanthemums with large displays in autumn. In spring, lilies, hyacinths, and tulips delighted guests.
The South Conservatory today is home to the Garden Railroad. A tradition for a quarter century, visitors delight in a G-scale model train complete with detailed miniature landscapes. This season, the theme is Movie Magic with the model train winding its way through movie sets where a director calls “Action” on several genres of movies including old western, sci fi, fantasy, and horror. There is even a ferocious Phippzilla. The whimsy and the details will delight young and old.
In 1901, Henry Phipps gave another gift to the conservatory. This time in the form of a building for use by public school teachers to teach botany to their students. The building was called Botany Hall and is still used as an educational building.
A more recent expansion occurred with the opening of the conservatory’s Center for Sustainable Landscapes in 2012. This newer building produces all its own energy and treats and reuses all water captured on site.
According to the conservatory, this building is “the first and only building to meet seven of the highest green certifications: the Living Building Challenge, LEED Platinum, WELL Building Platinum, Zero Energy Certification, SITES Platinum, Fitwel 3 Star and BREEAM Outstanding In-Use.”
Not only is this one building eco-friendly, but one hundred percent of the power needed at Phipps Conservatory is generated by solar or wind or by purchasing renewable energy credits.
Visitors to the conservatory enter first the Palm Court which contains palms, of course. This is the high-peaked room of the conservatory allowing for tall palms to tower over guests.
Guests will enjoy other rooms dedicated to ferns, tropical fruits and spices, orchids, a children’s room with hands-on learning activities, a room modeled after formal gardens at a French chateaux, and several rooms that change displays periodically.
Guests will also enjoy the art mixing and mingling with the plants. Some of the most striking pieces are the blown-glass masterpieces by Dale Chihuly.
Outside, visitors will find a rooftop garden of edible plants, a Japanese courtyard with bonsai, a sensory garden, butterfly garden, and an outdoor garden originally constructed in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration — add this to the unintended themes — What is this now? The fifth garden from the Great Depression?
Other beautiful outdoor gardens include an aquatic garden in spring and summer and smaller patches of herbs, dahlias, and medicinal plants.
And here’s an insider tip. Many of the outdoor gardens are open to visitors for free before you even step inside the conservatory.
The Conservatory offers loads of learning opportunities for adults and children, including a terrific summer camp for ages six to fourteen. Classes for adults include botanical illustration, garden design, floral design, and many more.
Phipps is involved in community action, too. They developed a community program to promote access to fresh produce and overall healthier choices. So far, they’ve helped install over 400 vegetable gardens at households in underserved neighborhoods.
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is located in Schenley Park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The garden spans fifteen acres and includes the fourteen-room glasshouse and twenty-three distinct gardens.
Phipps is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and Botanic Gardens Conservation International and has achieved Level III ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation.
The Conservatory was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Phipps is open seven days a week. Times vary, so check before you go. Group guided tours are available with advance planning.
Friends, Phipps is gorgeous. I do hope you get to visit. It’s A Garden a Day approved! But don’t take my word for it. Even Henry Phipps old pal Andrew Carnegie approved. He wrote,
“I think Mr. Phipps put his money to better use in giving the working-men of Allegheny conservatories filled with beautiful flowers, orchids, and aquatic plants, which they, with their wives and children, can enjoy in their spare hours, and upon which they can feed their love for the beautiful, than if he had given his surplus money to furnish them with bread.”
Well, that’s about it for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s garden.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me tomorrow to find out where we are going next. I release a new episode every single day.
As a reminder, you can learn more about the gardens featured on A Garden a Day by clicking on the links in the notes or by visiting our website, agardenaday.com.
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If all goes well, I will be right back here tomorrow. See you then!
To learn more about Phipps Conservatory and plan your visit, check out these links:
https://www.phipps.conservatory.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phipps_Conservatory_and_Botanical_Gardens
https://www.greenwithpurpose.com/visit-phipps-botanical-garden-pittsburgh/
https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/blog/insiders-guide-phipps-conservatory/
https://travel.usnews.com/Pittsburgh_PA/Things_To_Do/Phipps_Conservatory_Botanical_Gardens_62194/
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