Located in Highland Park, Lamberton Conservatory is the perfect place to spend inside on a gray day. Many folks visit to seek a calm, colorful space warmed to tropical temperatures, filled with the sound of running water and the scent of fragrant flowers.
Lamberton is also the perfect place to practice macro-photography. It’s easier to capture the details in each leaf and flower when there is no wind!
1. Visitor entrance
You enter a small visitor center with an admissions desk and pay a nominal admission fee when you first walk inside. Sign up for an individual or family membership if you can visit a few times a year.
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2. Seasonal Display House
The 2022 Lamberton Conservatory Spring Show opens Friday, April 8, 2022, and runs through mid-May. They feature hyacinth, daffodils, and tulips; the color and aroma make for a welcome awakening from the depths of winter!
The Lamberton Conservatory Holiday Show runs from the first weekend in December through the second weekend in January. Enjoy evening hours on Friday and Sunday nights until 9 p.m. to appreciate the holiday lights after dark.
Exhibits in the seasonal display house are changed five times throughout the year.
3 & 4. Exotic & Tropical
Tropical plants need tropical temperatures, so visiting Lamberton Conservatory in winter is a welcome escape from the cold!
Continuing on, you feel the change in temperature as you move into the warmer, wetter biome, draped with Spanish moss. Peek around the trees at the details tucked away under lush greens.
5. Desert
Next is the desert environment, filled with cacti and a large range of plants that typically occupy an arid climate.
6. Houseplants
Complete with orange trees and an elevated turtle pond.
7. Courtyard Gardens
This outdoor space is accessible in the warmer months through the main entrance near the restrooms.
Remember to Look Down
You’ll find turtles lounging by koi ponds, tiny quail wandering about, and other creatures like chipmunks who have come in from the cold.
Every day there’s something new
The plants grow and blossom at different times, even throughout the month. When I think I’ve seen everything, there’s a bloom I’ve never seen before a week later.
Enjoy a video tour
Highland Park Conservancy invites you to join Noelle Nagel, the Monroe County Parks Horticultural Interpreter, for a 2021 video tour. She shares her vast knowledge of the plant and animal collections. Enjoy!
HPC, founded in 1994, is a member-supported, all-volunteer organization: the official not-for-profit partner of Monroe County for the stewardship of Highland Park. Learn more at highlandparkconservancy.org.
Meet All 22 Parks in 2022
If you want to go to a park for the first time, enjoy a park with neighbors, or challenge yourself to visit all 22 Monroe County parks, we want to help you do it.
More information about Lamberton Conservatory
Constructed in 1911, the Conservatory was an addition to Highland Park, designed as an arboretum in 1888 by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Cost: A nominal admission fee; membership is available
Located in the City of Rochester (get directions)
More information: monroecounty.gov/parks-conservatory
2022 Rochester Lilac Festival: Things to Do Nearby
Most 2022 Rochester Lilac Fest performances begin in the early-evening leaving your days free to explore around Highland Park.
Rochester’s Olmsted-Designed Parks
Rochester is fortunate to be one of a handful of American cities with a park system comprised of Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks.
Monroe County parks are free, so take advantage of 12,000 acres of natural, zoological, historical, and geological experiences.
The Flower City: Exploring Rochester’s Extraordinary Flowers and Trees
Rochester became a global center for flower and tree nurseries in the mid-1800s, fostering our identity as The Flower City.
When is your favorite time to visit Lamberton Conservatory?
Please share your thoughts and stories with us in the comments. Your insight and experience are invaluable!
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Beautiful
A welcome respite from winter in the Roc