Conservatory Logo
Conservatory Chronicles
 Issue #35                                                                                                         
 September, 2010
In This Issue
Events Calendar
What's In Bloom?
SLURP! September 22nd After Hours!
Bogs in CHOMP! 2
In the Gift Shop!
Wish List


Conservatory Chronicles

Contributors

Reflections
Editor-in-chief:
Morgan Davis 
 
Writers:
Eddie Edelson, Eric Imperiale, Michelle Manzer

Photographers:  
Morgan Davis   

Hungry?
CHOMP 2 Banner
Beware!

Visit Us
Reflections
NEW Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday
10am - 4:30pm (last entry is at 4:00pm)
The Conservatory is closed on Mondays.

Please note that on Sundays and all major holidays, Golden Gate Park closes many of its roads to all vehicle traffic
Information line:
415-831-2090
Admission:
$7.00 for Adults
$5.00 for Youth 12-17, Seniors age 65 & over, and College Students with ID
$2.00 for Children 5-11
Free for Children 4 and under

Discounts available to all San Francisco City and County residents with proof of residency
The Conservatory is free to all visitors on the first Tuesday of every month.
Accessibility:
The Conservatory Of Flowers is wheelchair accessible for both motorized and non motorized chairs. Handicap permit parking is located at the east side of the building and also on John F. Kennedy Drive in front of the Conservatory. Strollers are not allowed in the Conservatory.

 
Jungle Pass
This ANNUAL PASS provides membership to the Conservatory of Flowers and supports our education mission.
UNLIMITED VISITS

The Jungle Pass admits two adults and two children for unlimited visits to the Conservatory, as well as discounts to Conservatory events, and entrance to other gardens around the country. To purchase your pass, click here.

Save the Date 

SAVE THE DATES!

Wednesday 
September 22
SLURP!
COF OPEN LATE:
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm!

Come see the creatures at night... feed on buggy beer and whimsical wine! Check out the WONDERARIUM, build your own, and lure your friends deeper into the exhibits!
$5 tickets,  $5 drinks
Tickets available at the door, MUST SHOW VALID 21+ ID.
Join us after hours to see what all the buzzzz is about!

Sunday
October 24 
FLORA GRUBB and the Conservatory of Flowers present
"EXOTICS AT HOME"

11 am - Cloud Forest Vertical Gardens!
12 pm - Succulent Container Compositions!
1 pm - Terrariums! 

At Flora Grubb Gardens
1634 Jerrold Avenue

Tuesday
 October 26
 "The Enchanting Victorian Landscape Vision"

Chip Sullivan, designer of the original COF Garden Railway, and Elizabeth Boults will present an evening of Victoriana, 
show  participants how to use Claude Mirrors, Zograscopes and Camera Obscuros, and sign copies of their recent book, "The Illustrated History of Landscape Design".

6 pm - Tour of the COF Galleries and Refreshments  
6:30 pm - Lecture  

Thursday
 NOVEMBER 18

Tropics, Treasures and Trains: the Conservatory's third annual Gala and
Silent Auction
 6 pm - 10 pm 

An evening of splendor.
Tickets and patronships available online.

If interested in sponsoring or donating a silent auction item, please contact Director of Development Jane Scurich.

Stay tuned for more information about all special events and ticket sales on our website: 
Find us on Facebook facebook.com/
ConservatoryofFlowers 


 
Help us Grow...
digitally!
 
Upload Photos and Share your Experiences! 
 
 
Follow us on Twitter
 
Find us on Facebook


Bulbophyllum echinolabium
DECEMBER WEEK
NIGHT AND WEEKEND BOOKINGS AVAILABLE TO HOST
 YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY AT THE CONSERVATORY
OF FLOWERS!


Weddings, Corporate Luncheons, Office Holiday Parties... See how our event spaces will work for your private party. Visit the website for more information or contact Events Manager Morgan Davis at [email protected].

Potted Plants Gallery event photo

Donate Now!
Purple orchid photo by Todd Worley

 Your donation will help ensure the continued growth and success of this unique educational and historic living museum. 
Click here to make a donation through our secure online form.  
CONSERVATORY
PARTNERS
 
Founding Partners 
Urban Farmer Store 
 
Join Our Mailing List 
Dear ,

"What's In Your Wallet?"

I'm sure you have heard this question in humorous commercials from a major credit card company.  When I look in my wallet I am surprised at the range of assorted billfold-scale photos, meal receipts, and collected business cards, along with my credit cards and California driver's license. If you're like me, you have strategically selected credit cards with cash-back or airline mileage features. Modern technologies have created added-value to most of our financial transactions.  I have enrolled my cards in the Escrip program, in which I am able to select a non-profit organization such as the Conservatory of Flowers to be the recipient of a percentage of my purchases. It is a very simple enrollment program you can elect the Conservatory of Flowers to benefit from your frequent dining or shopping.  As Conservatory membership has now eclipsed the 1,000 member household level, you can imagine what amount of financial benefit could be realized if a significant number of our members chose to enroll in the Escrip program!

Revenues from this program will be directed to our newly formed and very essential facility maintenance fund.  As the Conservatory ages gracefully, the proper attention to critical environmental control systems, infrastructure with respect to the historical integrity and architectural beauty of this 1879 Victorian glasshouse is very important. For more information about the Escrip program and how it can benefit the Conservatory of Flowers, please contact our Development Director Jane Scurich at 415-831-2093. To sign up, visit escrip.com and enroll in our group: 500020762. Jane can also provide information regarding the other fund development programs at the Conservatory that include estate gifts and bequests, annual fund, membership enhancement, sponsorships and tickets for the upcoming Gala planned for November 18th.

And to keep filling your wallet with cards, next time you stop by the ticket booth grab our partner program cards with Luckys and Cole Hardware. When you show these cards at check out, a portion of your purchases goes directly to the Conservatory. Thank you for your continued support and interest in the Conservatory of Flowers!  We appreciate everything you do to help the Conservatory grow and succeed! 


 Brent's signature
 
Brent Dennis
Director
WHAT'S IN BLOOM? 
 
Many who have been captured by the gaze of the Dracula orchid have stopped and wondered, "What pollinates this amazing flower?". The shape, color, scent, and distinctive lip of many Dracula species indicate that a fly is involved but little solid evidence existed until now. Recent research published this year [Lankesteriana,10 (1)] brings us closer to understanding the complexities involved in Dracula's survival.

 

Researchers travelled to the cloud forests of Ecuador to study the genus and observed both Dracula felix and Dracula lafleurii. The scientists kept their eyes focused on floral visitors and what they found is creating a buzz. The Dracula flowers attract, and are pollinated by, fungus-associated flies of the genus Zygothrica. The flies are drawn to the mushroom-mimicking lip of the flowers and, in some cases, appear to be attracted by a fungal odor as well.

 

Unlike other pollinators one may find in the orchid world, the Zygothrica fly does not engage in pseudo-copulation with the Dracula to pollinate the flower. Instead, "...these flies court and mate in the flowers, and in the process, pollinate them...The pollination mechanism of Dracula occurs when pollinators' thoraces are trapped by the incurved flaps of the rostellum [part of the column of the flower]...". The researchers also concluded that the flies do not lay their eggs in the flowers, as some had previously theorized,  but "...similar to mushrooms, Dracula flowers serve as shelters and rendezvous sites for flies during the prolonged rainy season."

 

Despite these exciting insights into the pollination of the genus Dracula, questions remain. The exact role fragrance plays, how the coloration of petals and sepals serves as an attractant, and whether or not the flowers provide fluid nutrition to pollinators have yet to be fully answered. Additional research should provide further understanding of the interplay between plant and pollinator and help reveal the secrets of Dracula's allure.

Click here to read the published research, and learn more about the Dracula genus pollination.
 
Written by Eric Imperiale
Photograph by Morgan Davis

SLURP! THIS WEEK!

South African Sundews in CHOMP 2!
You're Invited to SLURP! September 22, from 5:30 to 8:30, the Conservatory will be opening its doors after hours with friends, music, beverages and carnivores galore! $5 Entry, tickets will be available at the door. Beer and Wine will be cash only, featuring Clara Street Brewing Company, so don't leave your SLURP slush fund at home!

Wonderarium PrototypeHave a beer with friends amongst the fiendish and fabulous carnivorous plants in the Conservatory of Flowers' special exhibition Chomp 2! Return of the Carnivorous Plants. San Francisco's very own jungle under glass is staying open for the 21 and older crowd and offers a special evening... of 'killer' entertainment.

Bulbophyllum echinolabiumArtists Sarah Filley and Yvette Molina, who are currently working on a plan to float a giant terrarium on Lake Merritt, bring their Mobile Plant Ambassador along -- a visual mash up of ice cream carts, nostalgic vending stands and Barnum and Bailey attractions -- and will invite a lucky handful of visitors to craft and take home their very own carnivorous plant terrariums. Read a recent interview with the team on The Oak Book, and learn more about our presenters at thewonderarium.com!
JOIN US FOR A CARNIVOROUS WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN CHOMP!  

 Find us on Facebook RSVP on our Facebook Event Page!

Thanks to the San Francisco Parks Trust for their generous wine donation!

BOGS GALORE!

 

Have you had a chance to explore Chomp! 2: Return of the Carnivorous Plants? If you have not, don't worry, you still have until October 31st to check it out! Here is a little virtual taste of some of the magnificent carnivores you will encounter:

 

As you enter Chomp! 2, you will be instantly drawn to our New England Bog and the gorgeous purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia). Its beauty, compact size, and lovely flowers have made it a popular mass market plant, second only to the Venus flytrap. The next bog you will encounter is the North and South Carolina Bog, highlighted by the notorious Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). The first plant ever to be suspected of carnivorous proclivities, the Venus flytrap makes for a great home plant to marvel, while growing on your windowsill. As you move through the exhibit, you will soon approach the Gulf Coast Bog, which boasts the stunning white trumpet (Sarracenia leucophylla). Considered by many the most beautiful of the American pitcher plants, the white trumpet has large, red flowers and a stunning pure bright white upper lid and mouth. From the Gulf Coast, you then travel at unparalleled speed to the South African Bog, where you can find the marvelous Cape sundew (Droseria capensis). Great plants for the all plant lovers, Cape sundews are large, easy to grow, produce scores of showy flowers and are so simple to propagate they often become a weed in collections! Finally, you will stumble upon our California Bog, which hosts the aptly named Cobra Plant (DarlinSouth African Boggtonia Californica). Native only to Northern California and Southern Oregon, they are recognizable for their puffed hoods and twisted red tongues, looking like they want to gulp you down...

 

Come by and experience CHOMP! 2 for yourself!   

 

Thanks to Peter D'Amato's The Savage Garden for valuable research! Available in the Gift Shop for your own perusal!

 

Written by Eddie Edelson

Photos by Morgan Davis


IN THE GIFT SHOP! 
 

Have you ever wondered about growing edible orchids? Vanilla planifolia is the world's tastiest orchid! The Conservatory of Flowers Gift Shop is grateful to have received sixteen 3-4 inch pots of Variegated Vanilla planifolia. These plants are $20.00 each. All of the profits will be donated to the Conservatory's Building Maintenance Fund.

 

Chomp Giftshop ItemsVanilla planifolia is a quick growing vine. It's a great plant for the average orchid grower, and presents a fun challenge for beginners. Vanilla planifolia can grow indoors, with full to part-shade sun, and with ample humidity and frequent watering.

 

The variegated Vanilla planifolia will be available in the Gift Shop as supplies last, starting (today!)Tuesday, September 21st, with a reserve available on Wednesday, September 22nd at SLURP!


To learn about Vanilla from the proprieter of Xanath at the Conservatory, visit saffron.com
 
Image compliments of Logee's Tropical Plant Vendor.
WISH LIST

 

1 or 2 Podiums for lectures and presentations

Beverage Containers for Special Events

A coat rack for our Volunteer Center

Five ergonomic executive chairs for long hours at the computer - do not need to match

New stanchions, and new kitchen-sized garbage cans for the Vestibule  


Contact Morgan Davis with items for in kind donation!