Phipps Conservatory-Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
My friend Lucy and
I took off Wednesday and headed to Pittsburgh to find the Phipps conservatory. Someone
had landed a fb page on my feed and after viewing it and re-posting it. Then my
friend Lucy suggested that she would go along if I wanted to check it out. It is
about 2 hours straight out St. Rt 22 past Tappan lake and Cadiz to Wintersville
and points beyond. It was a nice day despite running into rain in the morning
but instead we ended up chasing it into Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was hectic and
I let the GPS on my phone take me right to the place. The trouble is when you
punch in the GPS address it takes you to the physical location and not the
parking. Parking was limited to an obscure middle island and some places along
the curb. It left us a little confused but we ended up parking in a free lot
and didn’t have to pay for parking. Parking looks limited and I would try and
go mid-week if possible for easier access to facility.
The sunken
entrance and green roofs lent an architectural flair to the building with a
modern blend of clean lines funneling you down to the main doors. One nice
thing is that everything looks handicapped accessible; a large spacious center
entrance dome adds light and openness to grand entrance they have. After purchasing
tickets a round staircase where a glass
sculpture hangs down is highlighted as your eyes are drawn to it as you ascend
the stairs into the main greenhouse room, featuring large trees growing skyward
as if to block the glass and absorb the light limiting any chance of it getting
to plants below. Most of these plants used to low lights, ferns and such. the
paths are designed so that if you keep making lefts you will be able to
traverse the whole grid of greenhouses moving from room to room and complete a
circuitous route and end up where you started.
Eye candy is everywhere
and nameplates with the common name and the scientific name. At one time in a
college biology class I was able to learn to pronounce the scientific name, and
so I practiced with increasing frequency, as I went through and guessing at some
plants with common names. They say there are over 3500 different varieties of
orchids and they had quite many of them represented there. Each different
greenhouse was setup in a different way but had a common theme of moving you
through and allowing your eyes to dance from one thing to the next as I would
say to Lucy here look at this, as we both would point out different things we
would find along the way.
Waterfalls and
features abound throughout the array of greenhouses. Mists of water enriching
the interior feel of the greenhouse structures and allowing such things as a tropical
rain forest area to be part of the tour. As much as we were able to see I am
sure we missed a lot of treasures, as illustrated by one of the kind volunteers
who pointed out things we had missed, and without asking, say they love just
coming in there and helping maintain just for the ambiance of the place. It is
quite peaceful. At one point they have a koi pond and I allowed a golden koi
who was following me around to kiss my finger as Lucy snapped a pic. It seemed
as if the fish was following me around. I kinda felt a connection to him and
wondered how he would taste deep-fried and served with chips wrapped in newspapers.
Not really but sometimes I admit that I have a hard time seeing animals as just
friends when I know they are important to us as part of our daily food. I doubt
if I will quit eating fish as a result of my close encounter of the kind.
There is
something interesting for everyone. It is amazing how they are able to offer a diverse
arrangement of different plants under one roof. Enjoy the pictures. I will
include a hyperlink that will allow you to find more information in case you
desire to visit.
i will add over the next day more pics of my visit to Phipps-
Link to access Phipps- paste in browser to learn more - https://phipps.conservatory.org/
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