The Irwin M. Krohn Conservatory is a conservatory located in Eden Park within

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

The conservatory was completed in 1933, replacing smaller greenhouses that had stood in Eden Park since 1894. Originally known only as the Eden Park Greenhouse, in 1937 it was renamed in honor of Irwin M. Krohn, who served as Board of Park Commissioner from 1912 to 1948. The architect firm Rapp & Meacham designed the conservatory in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, in the form of a

Gothic arch A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch. This architectural element was particularly important in Gothic architecture. The earlie ...

. A 1966 hailstorm caused extensive damage to the conservatory, and the firm of

Lord & Burnham Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and greenhouse manufacturer, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States. History The company began in 1849 when Frederick A. Lord, a carpenter, started building wood and glass gree ...

was called to restore it. The original wooden sashes were replaced with durable aluminum.

Collection

It contains more than 3,500 plant species from all over the world, with principal collections as follows: * Bonsai Collection - a collection of bonsai trees from the conservatory itself, the Bonsai Society of Greater Cincinnati, and private individuals. * Desert Garden - succulents and cacti including

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

s, aloes,

crassula ''Crassula'' is a genus of succulent plants containing about 200 accepted species, including the popular jade plant (''Crassula ovata''). They are members of the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae) and are native to many parts of the globe, but cu ...

s, and

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...

s, as well as '' Cereus'', '' Opuntia'', and '' Pereskia''. * Floral Display - home to six seasonal floral shows, with a permanent citrus tree collection of

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

kumquat Kumquats (; zh, 金桔), or cumquats in Australian English, are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae. Their taxonomy is disputed. They were previously classified as forming the now-historical genus ''For ...

, giant Ponderosa

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

, and grapefruit. * Orchid Display - approximately 75 blooming

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

s at any time, from the conservatory's collection of thousands of orchids encompassing 17 genera. This display also includes a ''

Monstera deliciosa ''Monstera deliciosa'', the Swiss cheese plant or split-leaf philodendron is a species of flowering plant native to tropical forests of southern Mexico, south to Panama. It has been introduced to many tropical areas, and has become a mildly invas ...

''. * Palm House - a high central house with

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm ...

rubber tree ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now ...

s, and bananas, shrubby plants, and ground cover, as well as a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

with a

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...

stream. Epiphytic bromeliads,

s, and

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s grow in many of the trees. * Tropical House - a large variety of

s, both terrestrial and epiphytic;

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

, bromeliad, and

begonia ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown ind ...

collections; and important economic plants including a cacao tree,

Pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

vine, and dwarf banana.

Private events and weddings

Krohn Conservatory can be rented for private events and is an excellent setting for a small to mid-sized wedding. Accommodations can be made for the wedding ceremony to take place in the atrium of the conservatory, and there are multiple options for where to hold the reception, which include in the room off the atrium (seats up to 120 guests), or in the tent connected to the conservatory (seats up to 150 guests). Wedding guests have full access to the conservatory during the entire reception to take advantage of the numerous exhibits, such as the Orchid exhibit or the butterfly show. Information about renting the facility can be obtained through the Premier Park Events website.

In popular culture

The conservatory was featured in the 1993 film ''Airborne''. CC Cincy

Gallery

References

External links

Krohn Conservatory Photographs

Cincinnati Parks Krohn Conservatory
{{Coord, 39.11524, N, 84.49040, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Botanical gardens in Ohio Greenhouses in Ohio Tourist attractions in Cincinnati Mount Adams, Cincinnati 1933 establishments in Ohio