Olbrich Botanical Gardens — Attraction in Madison

Beautiful place, but management staff was very disrespectful to me and my friends.

Issue within pictures at the garden!

Mind you, this is a free place to explore to the public, yet this became a $40 trip for just an hour there. I’ve been here a couple times for photos, and I’m younger, I’m 19, so I don’t have much experience here, especially when no one has talked to me or explained their photography rules to me in the past, but the first time I hear it, the staff and manager, Hannah was pretty disrespectful to me about it, when I did indeed listen to what she had to tell me, and didn’t even want to argue about it on the spot! I got the pass! First approach I had with her was right away after passing the entrance and she stopped me and my friends very direct and passive aggressive asking about a photo permit. Told us to get one and then she walked off right away and just left us relatively confused because we’ve been here before, not talked too about photo permits, and today, we passed the front desk ladies- WITH my camera in my hand! They didn’t even say anything but smile at me! After Hannah the manager walked off, we just stood there confused and thought about the consequence of getting kicked out, so we were headed to the front desk to ask! No problem at all, but definitely such a passive aggressive approach to teenage girls! While we were getting ready (all within less than 5 minutes of standing there), she literally COMES BACK our way to follow us inside. Is SO extremely close to my back and is making me so uncomfortable! She does indeed follow us to the front desk and before we can say anything, SHE speaks over us to say we need a photography permit, and then again, just walks away! The desk ladies do help out and take out the form and I just go ahead and read it. I admit, I got super confused by the pass! It’s $40 for an hour and a minimum of 2 people… I think that’s a lot personally! I had just one question, “wait is this $40 pass just for a one use only” and they said yes, but very rudely asked “why would you come again”. WHAT?? That confused me very much so, but I did kindly just say because it’s a beautiful place to take photos and in my head just thought that was a lot of money. I’m sorry I guess! Then the manager, Hannah approached us once again and the desk ladies told her I had some questions. The manager, Hannah, responded “oh I bet you do!” VERY passive aggressively. This made me so uncomfortable and I’m already an anxious person and was trying to avoid any disagreements! Again, I’m also a younger teen and just tend to avoid scenarios like this! I barely could answer and her body language and tone while she was talking to me, just made us all feel so uncomfortable and just overall made it seem like we were disrespectful kids! This experience really rose my anxiety, made me so uncomfortable and makes me not want to come again. I still got the pass for my friend, but I’m just SO confused why we were so targeted today, because there were so many people with cameras taking pictures, the same way we were, but not talked to! We talked to some random people and they didn’t have photography permits!

Also, when I got the pass, they didn’t give you any sort of proof that you bought it! I had to ask for my receipt, so I could avoid any conflict, since that manager followed us so closely!

If you guys want this photography permit to be maintained, please show clearer and better instructed! And please be kind to the people who haven’t...

Olbrich Botanical Gardens is my favorite garden in Madison. I'm originally from Modesto, CA, and there was nothing like this there. The thai garden is my personal favorite, with a beautiful genuine gold plated structure amongst manmade bodies of water, filled with stones. It's the most peaceful area, there, in my opinion. There's a touch garden, a mint garden, a color garden (plants that can be used for dye), etc. The place is a true wonder. Then, too, during the winter, you can escape to a humid climate in the pyramid greenhouse, where there are tropical plants, sometimes butterflies, birds, etc. It's really nice to escape there and it's not very expensive to visit ($2-5), a few times during the winter. It's well worth the $, trust me, if you can't afford to be a snow bird/travel somewhere warmer. The weekends tend to be packed, so if you don't want a large crowd, I suggest going during a week day.

Update: 3.1.21 My experience was an odd one, in that I said hi to a woman as I put my coat on the hanger before entering the Bolz Conservatory, and I said hello to a zombie, apparently. There was zero response, even when I made eye contact with her. Then, before entering the conservatory I saw that Olbrich was having an orchid sale. I jokingly told the woman I've ended up killing every single orchid I've owned. She said it's like an art form and then I asked her if they had classes on how to care for them. She rudely told me to look it up online because she didn't know. Okay, what happened to customer service? You know, looking something up for someone? I thanked her, sort of, then said I didn't think I'd renew my membership because they sure are rude there. My previous experience, she didn't know anything about online classes and luckily the super nice and helpful librarian was there to talk to me - and she acted like she liked engaging with people. Today, as I was looking through the books for sale, a couple came up to the young woman and she rudely stated that they should hang up their coats before entering the Bolz Conservatory because it's warm inside. They seemed surprised and the older man asked for permission to keep his coat on. Wow. I couldn't believe this young woman's behavior. Then, I asked where to go to buy 2 books and I was directed to the gift shop where I asked the woman working if I got a discount on the books for being a member. She told me this, "we are practically giving them away." I couldn't believe her negative, poor attitude. I told her it didn't hurt for me to ask! Jeez! What's with the staff? Honestly, I couldn't believe the impoliteness. It seems to me as though the employees need some grounding before their shifts. Perhaps, it'd be helpful to have a meeting to walk through the outdoor/indoor gardens before their shift. It is so relaxing and you become connected to the earth. That Monday was intense and I found that the plants helped ground me. Meditation is nice, too. It's a difficult time for everyone - especially the people serving the public (especially during a pandemic). I hope the employees are receiving ample support. That's...

UPDATE BELOW Before my last visit, I would have given Olbrich 5 stars, but due to an incident last Saturday, Oct. 29th that has not been addressed I am giving a 1 star review. My sisters, boyfriend, and I were asked to leave after my boyfriend proposed to me and my sister took some pictures on a cell phone. Based on the sign posted outside, we would not have thought to inquire about a permit for taking candid pictures of a proposal with a phone camera (this was not an engagement shoot, they were personal pictures). We were then asked to leave because we were told we still needed a photo permit for cell phone pictures. I had seen many other patrons posing for pictures with their phones that were not asked to leave.

The employee who asked us to leave had approached my group earlier to give us some information about rental spaces, although we had not asked. We thought at first they were just being friendly, but after being approached a second time, it felt like we were being targeted. Being some of the few latinas at the garden that day, it felt like we were being discriminated against. I emailed the garden soon after we left to notify them of the situation and to ask for clarification about their photo policy, but have still not heard back as of today (Nov 2nd). It is obvious that this situation is not a priority. I’m very disappointed since this used to be one of my favorite places in Madison, and I hope this treatment isn’t extended to any other patrons of color. …

I would like to add an update to my review as I did end up hearing back from the director after some back and forth with the rental coordinator. The director apologized for my experience and took time to listen to my concerns which I appreciated. I voiced my concern about the sign being small and not mentioning that phone photography is included in their definition of posed photography. While I appreciate that the director took the time to talk to me, I would have preferred that this type of situation be prevented by more explicit signage and not have employees follow groups they are suspicious of around. For this reason I added a star to my previous one...