Conservatory of Flowers

The Transamerica building made out of old computer keyboards with the aluminum spire made out of CD discs. It was one of the buildings on the garden railroad at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers in the Golden Gate Park has special exhibits that last a few months at a time. We came across an article on the internet about a garden railway exhibit but it was set to end this last weekend. It just so happened that we were able to go down and see it before the last day.
Garden railways are often found outdoors but this one was inside the building. The theme of the railway was San Francisco buildings made out of recycled items. Eleven landmark San Francisco structures were on the railway and it was interesting to try to figure out what was used to build them.
For instance, the Ghirardelli building was made out of light switch covers. Another building was built entirely of old cassette tapes. The Transamerica building was made out of old computer keyboards with the aluminum spire made out of CD discs.
The railway was a combined effort of many individuals and was constructed in only eight days. It consists of three separate loops of track that continually run trains without needing an operator.
The regular exhibits were also nice to go through. The Conservatory of Flowers is a large building that is divided into several environmental zones.
Upon entering the building the first zone is the lowland tropics, the next zone is the highland tropics, then the next is aquatic plants. There is also a section for potted plants and the section for special exhibits. Each zone is independently climate controlled for both temperature and humidity to resemble the climate from which the plants are native. In one it might be very warm and humid, but the next zone might be cool and much dryer.
The special exhibit is changed periodically. Starting May 7 and going to November they will have an exhibit called Edible Expeditions. Details are at: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.
Featured plants in this exhibit produce many food products that we use every day, such as chocolate, vanilla, coffee, rice and spices. According to conservatory descriptions, various demonstrations will explain how the food goes from the plant to the finished product.
The Conservatory of Flowers was completely rebuilt about seven years ago. They display over 1750 species of plants from dozens of countries, including Brazil and the Philippines. There are about 16,800 window panes in the building which are all whitewashed to reduce the light and heat intensity and to maintain the historical appearance.
The structure of the building is made mostly out of redwood, because it will not rot in the high humidity present in some areas. About two-thirds of the redwood was salvaged from the original building and reused in the present building.
The Conservatory of Flowers was a great experience. And it is within walking distance of several other attractions, such as the Museum of Science and the Art Museum. Our only advice in going is to get there early, as parking is quite limited.