Toronto Conservatories in Winter: Allan Gardens, Centennial Park

Allan Gardens has a historic, glass-domed Palm House, and for more than a century it has hosted civic events and seasonal flower shows. It is an indoor botanical garden with five greenhouses.

Here is what each one holds. The Arid House displays unusual cacti and succulents, including agave, opuntia, haworthia and aloe. The Tropical House features plants from equatorial regions, and the Palm House displays an assortment of palms and other tropical plants. The Orchid and Bromeliad House includes equatorial plants. The Temperate Show House showcases seasonal flower shows and has a Koi pond.

The City lists the conservatory at 19 Horticultural Avenue, with free admission, open 365 days a year.

The story behind it is a good one. In 1858, George Allan donated the land to the Horticultural Society of Toronto as free, publicly accessible space for plant display. A new, classically proportioned palm house designed by Robert McCallum opened in 1910 and is the central heritage feature on the site today. It was expanded in 1920 and in 1957, the latter with four show house wings. In 2004 the University of Toronto donated the final conservatory building, originally built in 1932, which the Friends of Allan Gardens now use for teaching and programming.

For the TTC, the transit agency says to take Line 2 to Sherbourne Station, then the 75 Sherbourne bus south to Gerrard Street East. Friends of Allan Gardens says its farmers’ market runs on Saturdays, year-round, in the Children’s Conservatory on the west side of the park. See our winter farmers markets guide for details.

Set in Toronto’s second largest park, Centennial Park Conservatory has a tropical house, an arid house and a show house with plant collections and seasonal displays.

The main greenhouse contains 200 different varieties of tropical plants that bloom year-round, including palms, crotons, gingers, hibiscus, orchids and bromeliads. Fruit trees such as banana, soursop and papaya are housed there too. In the north wing, specialty displays are always changing, and they can include winter floral displays; the south wing holds unusual cacti and succulents.

The complex was designed and built in 1969 and formally opened on March 21, 1970. A neat bit of trivia: an attached greenhouse grows the conservatory’s seasonal display plants, plus 300,000+ annual and perennial plants that beautify parks throughout the city.

The City lists the conservatory at 151 Elmcrest Road, with free admission, open 365 days a year, wheelchair accessible, with onsite parking. A coat check is available in the front foyer, which is handy in January, and there is a drinking fountain inside.

For the TTC, the transit agency’s directions to Centennial Park itself (the park, not the conservatory door) include taking Line 2 to Royal York Station, then the 48 Rathburn bus westbound to 590 Rathburn Road and heading north. The City notes the park is undergoing improvements through its Centennial Park Master Plan Implementation, so check its page for updates. Our tobogganing hills guide has more ideas for a snowy day outside.

The third City conservatory is tucked between office towers in the downtown core. The City describes a small, two-level greenhouse set to the cool and moist conditions of a cloud rainforest, complete with waterfall, tree ferns and palms. It is at 14 Temperance Street. For current visitor information, check the City’s Cloud Gardens page before you plan a trip downtown.