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Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
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22 reviews for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
The Phipps Conservatory is a beautiful place to visit or in my case go to a wedding.
I went to a wedding here last Saturday (on Halloween). I had a great time. It felt like I was at a destination wedding in the Amazon. To get to the ceremony, I had to walk through the gardens to the very end. The ceremony was held in a cove; a pond with some koi were among some of the guests in attendance.
The appetizers during the cocktail hour were great. The dinner was a buffet of chicken, steak and ravioli. All the food was excellent!
If you are planning a wedding for 100 people or less this is a great option!
Susan took my cousin Catherine here just a couple of months ago when she came to visit. I am so glad she suggested this for my visit too. It is located in a beautiful park (Schenley), which I'm sorry I didn't have time to explore. But it is convenient if you are also scheduling a visit to the Carnegie like we did.
Having been to many conservatories, including Lincoln Park and Garfield Park in Chicago, I can say this is one of the most beautiful. There is a special exhibit going on right now, "Fräbel Glass at Phipps." The exhibit shows incredibly realistic glassworks and how they relate to nature. Another exhibit "Tropical Forest: Headwaters of the Amazon" allows you to immerse yourself in the sights and smells of the tropical rainforest.
Of the permanent exhibits, I think my favorites were the fern room (which allows you to see some of the most primitive plant life around) and Desert Room (which features cacti and succulents). I think Susan's favorite room is the Tropical Spice and Fruit Room.
We ate lunch at Cafe Phipps, which features sandwiches, salads, and soups made from locally grown foods. It was about as good as I expected to be.
But this is a beautiful place. Come here for a visit!
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Before my latest Pittsburgh visit, I added Phipps to my to-do list last minute. I'm glad I remembered! We went on a perfect sunny warm day. I forgot how lovely this place is and the new wing is very interactive and fun.
This place is great for a daytime date, a fun afternoon with kids and family, or a special occasion. My friend had her bachelorette luncheon (she didn't want a party) here. Hanging out on Flagstaff hill or wandering over to the Carnegie Museum can complete the day. Not bad at all. Truly a lovely atmosphere, with a friendly staff. My favorite has to be the butterfly room. It's so beautiful and the creatures are very interesting. I highly recommend it!
After a morning of seeing the birds over at the Aviary, Catherine and I headed over to the Phipps. As Catherine is from Chicago and was visiting me for the weekend, I decided to show her stuff that was uniquely Pittsburgh. Besides, visiting both the National Aviary and the Phipps gave us a sort of "Fauna & Flora" day. My only regret is that we didn't get to the Phipps until about 2pm.
Right now, they are featuring an exhibit called "Fräbel Glass at Phipps" and it will run until January, 2010. It shows the glass sculpture of internationally famous artist Hans Godo Fräbel. The newly redesigned Tropical Forest Conservatory exhibit is now open too. We also visited the Butterfly Forest.
We got to visit some of my other favorite rooms here, including the Sunken Garden, the Tropical Fruit and Spice Room, and the Victoria Room. Then we went outside to the Aquatic Garden, the Japanese Courtyard Garden (my favorite outdoor exhibit), and Botany Hall. We then paused for tea and dessert at the Cafe Phipps before visiting the huge Outdoor Garden, where I could spend all afternoon if I had a mind to!
Well after that, since I live in Squirrel Hill, we took a nice long walk home through Schenley Park.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/16/2008
Phipps Conservatory is another one of the many outstanding cultural amenities in Pittsburgh. I… Read more »
On my first visit to Pittsburgh in over 10 years, the lovely girl next to me on the plane told me I had to go to the Conservatory. So i dragged the boyfriend over and prepared him to look at flowers for hours.
It was free for CMU students (damn) but my student ticket was 9 big ones. The staff, including a lovely crotchety old man named John, helped us get started. They recently added a new wing, the Head Waters of the Amazon about which John was particularly excited. He explained we should make only right turns so we were sure to see everything and then he sent us on our way.
Some highlights include: the butterfly room (though I would argue this could use more butterflies), the Head Waters room, the bunny who lives on-site, the outdoor gardens (particularly the Childrens' Garden, filled with flowers) and the beautiful, incredibly peaceful Parterre de Boderie Room.
Near the end, my patience had waned a bit because we were there for so long, but it was well-done and a great way to spend a morning.
As a teen, I worked at a botanical garden for two summers. Even now I always want to visit botanical gardens in any city I'm in--Phipps doesn't disappoint.
My favorite room is the Tropical Forest Conservatory, with its waterfall, koi pond, the thatched roof huts and these dollhouse-like shrines that I was told are ancestral shrines. I like the Orchid Room, but I think people must gravitate towards that room or something, because it's always the busiest room whenever I go (that and the Butterfly Room).
I find the special exhibits a little random--I first visited during last summer's chocolate exhibit, in which plastic flamingos and fake chocolate foods seemed to be plunked right in the middle of the plants for no apparent reason. I missed the Chihuly show, but there are still a few pieces of colorful hand blown glass in seemingly random places. The "animals" in the holiday flower show were more understandable, as many of them were made out of botanical materials. Plus, I'd be heartless to say I didn't like those cute animals.
Still, Phipps is an excellent time. If gray skies have got you down, Phipps can fix you up.
This place exudes cheer in an understated way.
If you're in Pittsburgh for a weekend or longer, this should be one of The Places To Visit. It's rarely crowded, it's inexpensive, and every room in the building is an awesome collection of plants. Flowers, cactus, palm trees, orchids, with the seasonal butterfly room off to the side, and a great display around Christmastime.
Comparing it to botanical gardens in larger cities, it's bigger than the one in Washington, DC if that matters to ya. Reading the reviews, it never even occurred to me that not all cities have one of these. Hunh.
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This is a nicely run conservatory that has friendly staff and is just the right size for a day visit. Highlights include the outdoor gardens, and the butterfly gardens...There is a nice cafe serving good food...I recommend the salads! There is nice outdoor area for eating too.
Nothings puts me in the holiday spirit more that a visit to Phipps Winter Flower Show. I love all the cute "animal" displays and the poinsettias, hanging baskets and the Xmas trees are beautiful and fragrant. I love how they manage to fill the Serpentine Room with such nice holiday displays.
My favorite room is always the Orchid Room. There are so many different varieties and I love to be able to see them up close and marvel at their beauty. I also love the Tropical Forest Conservatory. It's so peaceful and tranquil. I love the Sunken Garden and The Victoria Room, too. Also, the Broderie Room was also very beautiful in it's holiday decor. I can't wait to visit again in the Spring!
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A beautiful place to spend a few hours! The conservatory is quite large with tons of different plant exhibits. My favorites were the orchids and the cacti. There's also currently a Frabel glass exhibit so among the plants and flowers you'll find figures, fairies, bowls and the awesomely elongated "longfellows." On weekends you will find some areas closed off for weddings -- there was one indoors and another outdoors when I was there on Saturday, but there was still plenty to see.
It is impossible to be unhappy in Phipps Conservatory. Go uplift your spirits. :D
It's a pretty magical place for $14 (Free for Pitt students). There are seasonal themes for nearly every room so it is interesting to go back to it periodically. All the flowers and trees are arranged very nicely inside the pretty greenhouse, one cannot refrain from taking pictures...
Am I the only person who isn't that wild about Phipps?
It's interesting but big old turn of the century greenhouses are pretty cool in and of themselves, even if they don't have fruiting and flowering plants, and butterflies and so on inside. Which this one does. Which is also cool.
But some of the exhibits are really hokey.
I like this place best for it's easy location (for visitors and residents), the orchids, the potentially free admission, and the fact that when it is cold and dreary outside, this is a lovely place to breathe warm air, stare at green, living things and imagine summer.
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i wish that every city had a place like this, so that in the dead of winter i could trudge through the snowy streets of boston and walk into a beautiful victorian greenhouse.
if you're visiting pittsburgh, phipps should be at the top of your things to see.
I was just here for an absolutely stunning Chihuly exhibit. Amazing! Don't miss it! Best part of our trip.
I have high standards too because I'm familiar with Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia. Looks like the place is a bit lacking in flowering plants if the exhibit wasn't there. But still really neat and worth a visit.
They always have great shows, plant shows. Wow - imagine how I'd kick my own ass if I'd heard me say that just 15 years ago - their plant shows are awesome! **punch**
Anyhow they really are.
I love to photograph the flowering plants and it is a great place to take a client to in order to photograph them at as long as you go when Phipps is not too busy or crowded.
the addition to this 1890s facilities is a new LEED Silver building. too bad you need to pre-arrange for a "green" tour of this thing. we ended up just checking it out. its about a hour tour. the exhibits that were on was an interesting interplay of cheesy and ultra-cool. they had this chocolate theme which was cool. but then they placed all these hokey flamingo figurines all over, decorated to match each chocolate theme.
dispursed amongst the planting are custom blown glass art pieces by Dale Chilulhy, whose work you've probaby seen on the ceiling of the Bellagio in LV. his work is prolific and when placed against this lush green backdrop is quite striking.
the best thing i enjoyed were the sustainable features in the new addition: operable skylights, computer controlled monitioring of energy (you can see a graphic display at the entrance), energy blanklets that are tied electronically to a weather station, the fuel cell, and all the underground radiant systems we don't even see.
i'm excited to see their development of the Living Machine and anaerobic water digester to generate electricity out of shit.
Woah, I figured I must have reviewed Phipps. But I haven't!
I'm not a flower guy. I mean, they're ok and all, but I never figured I'd enjoy going to a flower garden. But I love Phipps. Everything is really well done, and they don't care if you just stroll for a while. The butterfly exhibit is really awesome - just go during the day, because during the evening they're all sleeping.
Carnegie Mellon students get in for free, so for four years, I had the perfect date spot. It's free! It's next to campus! You seem more sensitive than if you suggested you watch Grindhouse.
I took my mother to Phipps during her first visit to Pittsburgh earlier this month (April 2007) for the Spring flower show. It was a great way to showcase the city and it really impressed her (and me!) The flowers were great, and the food in the cafe was fantastic (and very vegetarian friendly). I've heard their butterfly gardens are great too, though they weren't open at the time.
A must-see!
I must say this place puts both of the conservatories in Chicago as well as the domes in Milwaukee to shame. It is old, classy, large, varied and their spring flower show -- we caught the last weekend -- was not only beautiful but original and clever. Should be considered one of the highlights of Pittsburgh.
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Phipps has the must beautiful flowers and gardens on display. This place is simply lovely. They just had the mythological creatures exhibit come to a close and it was magnificent! There were mythological beasts carved into the shrubbery everywhere. I loved every moment of it. I think my favorite part of Phipps though is the butterfly garden every summer. Getting up close and personal with some of the most beautiful butterflies is such a wonderful experience!
A Pittsburgh gem. I recently joined The Phipps because I am always impressed with the exhibits and my visit always puts me in a good mood. I've been at the Phipps in all seasons and attended a couple of the special events (New Year's Eve and Chihuly exhibit). Always something interesting to see.
No reasonably priced postcards. That is a real shame.
