Garfield Park Conservatory, Botanical garden and greenhouse in West Side, Chicago, US
Garfield Park Conservatory is a greenhouse and botanical garden on Chicago's West Side with eight indoor display gardens. These spaces showcase plants from tropical regions, desert climates, and local ecosystems under controlled conditions.
Jens Jensen, superintendent and chief landscape architect of the West Park Commission, demolished three small West Side conservatories in 1905 to build one large structure in Garfield Park. It was constructed between 1906 and 1907 with Prairie School architects Schmidt, Garden and Martin and the New York engineers Hitchings and Company. Jensen shaped it to echo the haystacks of the Midwest, and many original plants came from the demolished greenhouses.
The conservatory takes its name from Garfield Park, named for President James A. Garfield. Jens Jensen conceived it as a series of naturalistic landscapes under glass, and many original plantings came from the three smaller West Side conservatories in Humboldt, Douglass and Garfield parks. The Palm Room holds over seven dozen palm varieties, and the double coconut palm grown there in 1959 produced a seed weighing up to 50 lb (23 kg).
The grounds are fairly large and call for comfortable walking shoes to move between different garden sections. Paths are marked throughout all display halls, and family-friendly areas are clearly identified.
A separate area called the Desert House focuses on cacti and succulents growing on volcanic rock, recreating an environment similar to their natural homes. Visitors can observe how these plants adapt to extreme dryness.
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