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    HomeExplore the Capitol CampusBuildings & GroundsU.S. Botanic Garden
U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory
        
                  Buildings and grounds
  

        
              U.S. Botanic Garden
                                        Administrative Building
                                                Bartholdi Fountain and Gardens
                                                Conservatory
                                                Outdoor Gardens
                                                Production FacilityThe Basics
      
Location
    100 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024

                  View on Map
            
Date Occupied
    1933

Size
    28,944 square feet

AOC Jurisdiction
    U.S. Botanic Garden

Visiting Hours
    Go to www.usbg.gov for more information.This historic Lord & Burnham greenhouse contains two courtyard gardens and 10 garden rooms under glass, totaling 28,944 square feet of exhibition space.

The U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) is a living plant museum with exhibits that interpret the role of plants in supporting Earth's diverse and fragile ecosystem and in enriching human life. Its collections date to the 1840s when 250 plants and an unknown quantity of propagation material gathered by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) were brought back to Washington.

The USBG's present conservatory is a two-part building. The front is a one-story limestone structure with 11 lofty arches inspired by the seventeen-century orangery at Versailles near Paris. The facade features four alternating keystones carved in the images of Pan, Pomona, Triton and Flora. At the rear is a glass and aluminum greenhouse conceived in the glass house tradition first seen in the 1850s Crystal Palace in London.

The conservatory was designed by the Chicago firm of Bennett, Parsons & Frost and completed in 1933.

*The USBG was formally placed under the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress in 1856 and has been administered through the Architect of the Capitol since 1934.*

**Find out more about the U.S. Botanic Garden at usbg.gov.**

object type
    Park/Garden
          
    
      Image Gallery
    
    Plants in the U.S. Botanical Garden Conservatory
    The 93-feet-tall Tropics house in the USBG Conservatory showcases tropical plants from around the world.

The 93-feet-tall Tropics house in the USBG Conservatory showcases tropical plants from around the world.
    
    
    Laying of the USBG Conservatory cornerstone, November 12, 1931.

Laying of the USBG Conservatory cornerstone, November 12, 1931.
    USBG Conservatory aluminum structure frames the Capitol Dome in 1932.

USBG Conservatory aluminum structure frames the Capitol Dome in 1932.

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          Plants in the U.S. Botanical Garden Conservatory
      The 93-feet-tall Tropics house in the USBG Conservatory showcases tropical plants from around the world.
      
      
      Laying of the USBG Conservatory cornerstone, November 12, 1931.
      USBG Conservatory aluminum structure frames the Capitol Dome in 1932.
Background Image

U.S. Botanic Garden
Explore More
            
          Building at the end of a tree lined path.Botanic Garden Administrative Building
    Fountain at the Botanic GardensBartholdi Fountain and Gardens
    Walkway in National GardenOutdoor Gardens
    Plants and flowers in a greenhouse.U.S. Botanic Garden Production Facility Serve. Preserve. Inspire.

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