Conservatory Garden

Conservatory Garden began as a large, E-shaped greenhouse, or conservatory in 1898. It featured an indoor winter garden of exotic tropical plants and outdoor decorative Victorian flowerbeds. In 1937, the deteriorating structure was demolished and this six-acre formal garden was designed in its place.

The Central Park Conservancy began its restoration of the area in 1981, starting with the Garden’s fountains.

Conservatory Garden is divided into three distinct styles – French, Italian, and English.

The northern French-style garden features an ellipse of meandering boxwood and pansies, and showcases spectacular seasonal displays of tulips in spring and chrysanthemums in autumn. In the center is the Untermyer fountain, which is surrounded by the charming Three Dancing Maidens sculpture by German artist Walter Schott.

The central Italian garden features a wisteria pergola, a large lawn surrounded by clipped hedges of yews, a 12-foot-high jet fountain, and two exquisite allées of pink and white crabapple trees.  On the walkway under the wisteria pergola are medallions inscribed with the names of the original thirteen states.

The centerpiece of the southern English garden is a bronze statuary fountain memorializing children's writer Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Burnett Fountain depicts a boy playing his pipe to attract birds, with a girl offering a bowl of water for them to drink. In spring and summer, the area is scented by magnolia and perfumed Japanese lilac trees.