Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco: A Victorian Jewel Box of Botan

🌸 A Living Relic Opened in 1879, this steam-powered time capsule is: America’s oldest public conservatory A wedding cake-white landmark surviving earthquakes & fires Home to 2,000+ rare plants across 5 ecosystems 🌴 Inside the Glass Palace 1️⃣ Lowland Tropics Gallery Giant Amazon water lilies (leaves big enough to sit on!) A chocolate tree that actually smells like cocoa 2️⃣ Highland Tropics Orchid wall with 300 varieties (some bloom only once a decade) The "Corpse Flower" (when it blooms, the stench hits headlines!) 3️⃣ Aquatic Plants Carnivorous plants that eat flies (watch feeding time at 11AM) Vanilla vine snaking up 30 feet 4️⃣ Potted Wonders Prehistoric ferns from dinosaur eras A "century plant" that blooms once then dies dramatically 🎟️ Visitor Secrets FREE first Tuesday of each month Foggy mornings = best photo light (no glare!) Hidden gem: The basement propagation lab (ask nicely for a peek) #Conservatory of Flowers #SF