Lamberton Conservatory – Highland Park

I love this place, for just a few bucks it’s a great place to go and check out all the neat plants and seasonal displays. The Christmas display is cool, as is the Springtime display, but maybe it’s just me looking forward to sunny nicer weather at the time I go :)

Lovely place. Drifting in here after running around Highland Park. If you’re in Rochester, consider checking this place out. It’s pretty small but only costs $ 3 to see the 5 different greenhouses. Open every day except Christmas and has been around for more than 100 years. A morning well spent, I’d say!

The Lamberton Conservatory is part of Highland Park but really deserves its own Unilocal page for its conservation efforts and more than 100 year history in Rochester. Any conservation effort that can provide a lush, tropical environment for a variety of plants through 96 snowy Rochester winters gets 5 shiny stars from me.
The LC was orignally built in 1911. Maybe you just did the math, and realized that 96 winters after 1911 is 2007. That’s when the conservatory was renovated. All of the steel framing was replaced with galvanized steel to better withstand the temperatures and humidity of this tropical oasis. Also, nearly 80% of the glass at that time was original to the structure and was subsequently replaced with almost 1k panes of new glass. Everything was restored to preserve as much of the original structure as possible.
Inside you’ll find a variety of plants, cacti, trees and plenty of chigger-​free Spanish moss. There are several places to sit and enjoy the sounds of quail and a mini waterfall. Incidentally, if you’ve never heard a quail before, you may hear an exotic shrill call from a mature male or a frog-​like croon from a mature female when you’ve triggered their neighborhood watch program or when they are simply making plans for date night. Find an empty bench, get comfy and let the roaming turtles, and fish ponds inspire you to Unilocal about that killer sushi you had for lunch.
It’s not huge, maybe 1,800 sq ft, but it’s a great way to enjoy a mini tropical biodome in Rochester. The admission price of $ 3 isn’t huge either, and there are discounts for students, seniors, and members of the military. It’s worth it if you need to hide from your fan club while working on that epic Unilocal review.