Trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

My mom’s birthday was last week so my family and I decided to take a trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. My mom LOVES plants (that is no understatement). They are all over my parents’ house, so I knew she would thoroughly enjoy the 17 botanical gardens at Phipps. I had never been there, but I have seen picture that friends taken. It looked beautiful, but was nothing compared to the real thing.

There was an artist exhibition while we were there as well, and you know I wasn’t going to miss taking pictures of that. All of the pieces were glass sculpture variations created by artist Dale Chihuly. Check out his work, it is fantastic. You can check out more of his art in the botanical gardens as well.

Below are some cool shots I got while we were walking through, but if you ever make it into the area, you have to check it out for yourself. Pictures don’t do it justice. I apologize for the lack of descriptions in some of the captions. I’m really not a flower person and don’t know the name of some of the plants, so “pink flower” had to suffice.

spiral glass sculpture

Spiral glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly

red tulips

Red tulips

orange tulips

Orange tulips

instrument fountain in gardens

Instrument fountain in gardens

daffodil

Daffodil

hand painted instrument

Hand painted instrument. I think it’s a cello. It was larger than a violin but smaller than a bass.

flower garden

Flower garden close up

bigger flower garden

Flower garden

close-up of instrument fountain

Close up of instrument fountain. It actually lit up and sprayed water out of each instrument. Pretty neat!

glass sun sculpture

Glass sun sculpture by Dale Chihuly

tequila cactus

A tequila plant. Yes, this is the actual plant we get tequila from.

sausage spurge cactus

Sausage spurge cactus

cactus arm

I don’t remember what kind of cactus this is, but the arms looked pretty cool.

golden barrel cactus

Golden barrel cactus. Supposedly, you can cut this open and get water from them.

americana cactus

Americana cactus. This is probably the coolest looking plant I’ve ever seen. It looks prehistoric or something.

desert cactus

More of the americana cactus.

cactus

Some type of cactus

rock fountain

Rock fountain with fish

outdoor garden

Outdoor garden. It looks like something out of the movie the Secret Garden.

glass sculpture

Another phenomenal sculpture by Dale Chihuly

banana tree

Banana tree

ruined basketball game

In the train room, there were set ups like this where dinosaurs were taking over. Made me laugh.

trains in the garden

Train Room

garden railroad room

Train room, again

glass reed sculptures

Glass reed sculpture by Dale Chihuly

orange flower

I have no idea what this is. So I’m just going to call it an orange and pink flower.

yellow flower

Yellow flower

butterfly in the garden

A butterfly in the gardens

warn fern

Wart fern

dedrobium anosmum plant

Dedrobium anosmum plant

pink flowers

Pink flower

speckled pink flower

Speckled pink flower

white flowers

White flower

Phipps Conservatory right side

Phipps Conservatory right side

Phipps Conservatory Pittsburgh

Phipps Conservatory right side

9 thoughts on “Trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

  1. I’ve been making a Pittsburgh to-do list and now have to add this! I recently went to the National Aviary and had a blast! Where in Pittsburgh do you live? What is your favorite place to visit?

  2. Pingback: Archive of Comments | Arlen Shahverdyan. Author's Blog

    • Haha thank you! She’s a little obsessive about plants so I knew she would like it there. Here’s another reason to come to PA… You can get some great shots at Phipps.

      Also, the artwork was awesome. Apparently about 5-6 years ago, that artist had a full exhibition there. Pieces were found in every room. Too bad I missed that one. 🙁

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