Botanical Building

This is a very nice place to visit! it is an indoor garden located inside of Balboa Island; and is one of the only places in the area that is free of admission.
There are flowers, ferns, trees, tulips and much more! People come here to draw and it is nice to see their amazing artwork! Don’t forget to sign the registry once you leave to let them know you visited :)
The garden is quite small but it is worth a visit if you’re in the area or visiting any of the museums next to it! Check it out on a weekday so parking is much easier.

The Botanical Building, located inside Balboa Park, is actually not too big: P There is a pond with koi fish that is in front of it so that’s a good tell tale sign that you’re close to it! It’s the open building that’s at the end of the pond!
When you go in, at least during December 2015, you see a row of poinsettias. Maybe they’re ringing in the holiday season: D
There was a section that you could touch the plants and try and see what smell it made– that’s so cool that you could *interact* with the plants and see what scents they could give off :3
There was a poinsettia circle, which was a great circular area. Someone asked me to take a picture of them with it and I took a great picture (if i do say so myself: P). We asked someone else to get a picture of us and they zoomed in so much x_​x. Sigh sometimes I wonder how people take pictures HAHA.
The building is pretty small so you’ll only spend about 10 – 15 minutes in it, unless you really want to go in depth with every single plant haha. It’s a nice place to walk through– give it a try!

The Botanical Building is a really beautiful place to spend time. Always beautifully maintained and sometimes the plants rotate. Right now there are incredible poinsettia displays for the holiday season. Usually, there are more orchid displays, which are absolutely breathtaking but those have been replaced with the poinsettias for now.
Bring a camera!

Beautiful garden with lots of different shrubs and flowers. And you are allowed to sit outside front and enjoy a beverage with a great view for some people watching! One of my favorite areas in Balboa Park.

Free yes this botanical garden charges zero to be able to enjoy the beauty of the many species of plants, trees, and yes many many beautiful flowers. Love love love visiting this amazing place in the heart of Balboa Park and yes San Diego surely has a lot of amazing places that are a must visit. My boys and I enjoyed a most pleasant morning here taking pictures and just capturing many beautiful memories.
Spacious, open, and with many wonderful things to see this place is truly amazing. My boys were in awe and enjoyed their visit.

A Beautiful Botanical Bird Cage! I can’t believe it is Free!
The orchids are beautiful! Lots of shaded areas to take some wonderful photos.

It’s alright. Can’t say I’m a fan. It can take you 10 minutes to an hour to finish the walk in the botanical building depending on how interested you are in plants, so for someone like me, I was done in 10 minutes. Even comparing to other botanical places I’ve been to, this still came short as most plants there were not really interesting looking. It’d be great if there were more colors instead of greens, maybe September was not a good season for flowers?
This is a botanical building not a garden so it’s as big as the size you see from the outside. I really like the grounds outside the building though with a few gigantic koi fish in the big pond and some funny ducks hanging around.
However, it’s one of the few free admission attractions in Balboa so why not check it out? It’s definitely worth a quick tour and you might find something you like in there!

Botanical gardens right smack in the middle of Balboa Park. The hours are a bit strange, if not short, and the place always draws a crowd.
I’ve personally been here a couple times during the summer, but from my understanding, the plants on display rotate in conjunction with the seasons.
You’re free to sit and relax on the benches or ledges, but it might be awkward considering tourist and locals alike will be constantly taking pictures around you. It’s best to simply enjoy it by walking around and avoid photobombing strangers. Many of the plants are also not meant to be touched, particularly the flowers since they tend to be more fragile than say, a sturdy tree. Speaking of flowers, the scents inside are amazing. It’s also fresh and the environment gives you a sense of being in a jungle or on the set of Jurassic Park.

A very good place for sight seeing.
Most people would consider looking at plants as a boring thing. But when you consider some of the exotic plants in the BOTANICAL BUILDING, you learn to appreciate plants and plant life a little bit more. Call me old fashion, but I took a lot of pictures inside and out of the Botanical Building, and people were amazed at the beauty of the shots I took. And in today’s world of digital cameras, take advantage of it, cause you never know what you might miss. Case in point: I took a picture of this one exotic plant but never noticed the Black/​White and Yellow striped caterpillar on one of it’s leaves. It wasn’t until I noticed something strange on one of the pictures I took that had me later magnify it to see what it was.
And the outside of the Building is no slouch either. They have a huge pond with colorful KOI (a huge Japanese Gold Fish,) Lily Pads, Ducks and other small animal life… and if you listen carefully, you can also hear a Frog (or Toad) making a huge groaning sounds.
If you haven’t seen the Botanical Building in Balboa Park, I highly recommend seeing it.

What a beautiful place to visit and it’s free! The flowers are absolutely beautiful! They also have a Rose Garden and a Desert Garden all in one place here at Balboa Park. Must visit if you’re in San Diego area!

Now you would be surprised to know that among the many great attractions at Balboa park which include the World Famous San Diego Zoo… there is a great hidden gem called the Botanical Building. There are many different species of plants and flowers along with a beautiful fountain and Koi Pond. It is a wonderful place to just go relax… read a book… take a stroll… or just enjoy the shear beauty of the grounds that surround the building. DID I MENTION IT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE. I highly encourage everyone to go to this wonderful location in Balboa Park. Eat, Drink and be Merry my Friends!!!

What a great place to spend a couple moments when at balboa park. There is a huge variety of plants and they are all named which is pretty cool.

Walking through Balboa park I visualize a kaleidoscope of memories, going round and round before me, twisting, turning and becoming one with the wind in the trees, floating and flying before me like a butterfly.
Over the years I’ve been to the Botanical ‘forest’ many times. Each time there is something new and interesting to discover and I must take loads of pictures. Could probably cover one wall in my house with all the photo’s I take!
They now have free tours if you show up on time of the Botanical ‘atrium’ and surrounding beauty of Balboa park. This historic building is one of the largest lath structures in the world and was built as a temporary structure for the 1915 — 1916 Exposition.
The orchids and Easter lilies are especially beautiful. My favorite plant is the huge ferns, some of them reach the ceiling. The branch’s start out what looks like a curled up furry antenna, that slowly uncurls over time, just amazing. The Bromeliad selection is a treat to observe and appreciate.
Looking forward to visiting again!

AMAZING… and FREE
What gets better? I love plants, flowers, animals, and just nature in general. So this was our second stop at Balboa Park (after the Japanese Tea Garden).
There were so many varieties of exotic plants and flowers it was amazing! Definitely a joy to see and admire.
P. S. Just outside on the left door entrance is a tree that is the home to several Monarch caterpillars! Be sure to check it out. It is very cool and maybe you will get lucky and see a transformation in process! Just be careful not to hurt the tiny guys.

— 5 stars because its free, otherwise I’d give it a 4
–don’t have much to add to the other glowing review on here except that I love stopping in for a bit whenever I’m in the park. Its so peaceful, serene, pretty and changes slightly throughout the seasons.
–I especially love the orchids (not a huge variety but plenty of them
–the touch and smell garden is fun too… just make sure you rub the leaves of the plants to get the different smells. too many people tear the leaves off (a big no-​no) and put it up to their nose to smell them and are disappointed. also, it would be nice if all the plants were labeled.

I’ve always been fascinated by exotic palm trees and foliage, and being that this building has many of both on display, it is one of my favorite buildings in Balboa Park. In addition to ornamental fig trees with their stunning non-​edible fruit growing straight out of their trunks and stems (
), you can find Coffea Arabica or coffee on display (
). Yes, here in San Diego it can be grown in the most advantageous micro climates and protected environments.
The shade house building was built in 1915 and is still going strong with careful maintenance and improvements by the parks employees. I like that many of the palms trees are now mature, so you can appreciate their slender fronds and scarred trunks. The cycads, some of the oldest living plants still around and very common during the dinosaur era, are amazing and even display their fruits of labor (
).
If you are a local or tourist, they place deserves a stop over, and bring your camera, because there is always something intriguing to snap a photo of.

It’s really hard to fair and impartial once you’ve seen and visited the best in San Francisco but, I’ll try my best.
This garden is maybe a tenth of the size of San Francisco’s Botanical Garden but, it’s a very peaceful and pleasant place to visit.
Located inside of a wooden and slated building, it’s quiet, peaceful and surreal.
There’s not too many exotic flowers to mention but, what they do have is worth seeing first hand. I especially liked their display of Bonsai Trees. Very cute and we’ll manicured.

Lush Green plants for everyone to see,
orchids and ferns, to even topical trees.
The Botanical Garden is FREE, so come and look
Plenty of grass outside to sit and enjoy a good book.
Koi fish and aquatic turtles swim around beautiful lilies,
A true lovely spot, right dab in the city.
Enjoy a picnic basket, some alcohol if you must.
it’s legally permitted from noon till roughly around dusk (8:00pm /​No glass)
My favorite part in the summer are the two trees out front,
With a careful eye examine the leaves and go for a hunt.
Monarch butterflies, caterpillars and cocoons are hidden from view.
If you are patient enough, you’re sure to see a few
The fresh air inside, and the foliage make it a nice place to reflect.
A wonderful spot for a lovely date, I might interject.

5 stars for the gardeners who are responsible for the best spring ever in the Botanical building in Balboa park! Easter lilies and a rainbow of blossoms are in their full glory now! This little garden in Balboa park is a great place for a short stroll, or to sit and be inspired, or stop and have a chat with an artist who may be sketching the garden.
I’ve been coming to this garden for years, and it’s at it’s best this spring. Great job!
Beware of the carnivorous plants. Seriously there are some! I never noticed them before. Always something new to discover.
Enjoy and happy spring!

It’s beautiful!
It’s free!
It’s peaceful!
It’s shaded! (What can I say, I was hot.)
We spent about 30 minutes strolling through the botanical building and admiring the plants, which included numerous orchids. The way the sunlight filters in through the domed room was really pretty, too. There are a few benches sprinkled throughout the building, but they all seemed to have been in line of sprinkler fire, so unless you wanted a wet seat, best not to sit down. A great spot to stop to take a few photos if you’re visiting Balboa Park.