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Seen from the air, the Conservatory Garden carves an impressive oasis within Central Park |
Whether you're planning a leisurely stroll, an intimate wedding, or some quiet time with a good book, the Conservatory Garden offers a peaceful and colorful setting in all seasons.
The six-acre Conservatory Garden is Central Park's only formal garden. It takes its name from the huge glass conservatory that once stood on this same spot, built in 1898. In 1934, when maintenance of the facility had become too costly, the conservatory was demolished and replaced with the present Garden, which opened to the public in 1937. The Conservatory Garden is in fact three gardens representing different landscape styles: Italian, French, and English.
To enter the six-acre Garden from Fifth Avenue and 105th Street, you must pass through the Vanderbilt Gate, which originally stood before the Vanderbilt Mansion at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, the site of today's Bergdorf Goodman store. An Italian-style garden opens immediately before you. It is a restful oasis of formal green lawn and clipped hedges. It is bordered to the north and south by alleés of crabapple trees; their bloom times vary from mid-April through the first week of May, depending on the weather. On the west side is a wrought-iron wisteria pergola that sits atop a series of tiered yew and spiraea hedges. An elegant geyser fountain in front of the pergola provides a vertical contrast to the rows of hedges.
Few visitors know that on the walkway under the pergola are medallions inscribed with the names of the original thirteen states. The Italian garden is the site of many wedding photography sessions and, in the spring, of the Central Park Conservancy's Women's Committee Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon.
To the north is the classical French-style garden. At its center is German sculptor Walter Schott's Three Dancing Maidens. Surrounding the fountain is a parterre bed with clipped germander in elaborate scrolls. And around the parterres are sloped beds planted for two dazzling floral displays. In the spring, 20,000 tulips bloom; bulbs are planted anew each fall and the prior year's bulbs are given to neighborhood gardening groups. In late October, 2,000 Korean chrysanthemums bloom in an ever-changing but always brilliant palette.
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The French Garden's Untermyer Fountain of Three Dancing Maidens |
The South Garden is English in style and planted for year-round interest. Sheltered in the center is the Burnett Fountain. Surrounding the pool are seasonal planting beds, with thousands of daffodils and other bulbs in spring, and over 100 annual plant varieties in summer. The outer ring of beds is planted with an outstanding selection of perennial plants, shrubs, trees, and grasses that bloom in succession from early spring through fall. The newest horticulture addition to the South Garden is a woodland slope along its outer perimeter — a shade garden using native and non-native plant species. The woodland slope is particularly lovely in the spring when thousands of daffodils and other blooming plants dot the slope. |
