Phipps Conservatory for the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show

Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on January 21, 2025.

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The Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, aptly themed “A Moment of Beauty” for 2025, brings these two beautiful plants (both favorites of ours) to the forefront of the Conservatory while highlighting how some of the flowers with special art, lighting, and more.

The theme here invites you to take a few extra moments in each room to really stop and appreciate selected flowers, and we really appreciate the notion as you really do see more when you stop and reflect.

As always with our show features, we wanted to share a few of our favorite rooms from this show and hope you'll make it out to visit for yourselves!

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The Palm Court

The Palm Court is always a favorite spot for us when visiting Phipps Conservatory, and at the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show it is no different.

As with most Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Shows, The Palm Court also features an array of beautiful orchids as a central focal point and is adorned with many beautiful butterfly designs throughout that are just as colorful as the flowers. Along the court you will not go wanting for more orchids- the space is truly packed and sets the tone for many of the rooms that follow.

The Serpentine Room

The Serpentine Room is often one of the most elaborate rooms during a flower show at Phipps, and for the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, the room is a bit more reserved.

The reason? It is full of beautiful bonsai plants!

We almost always make a detour into the Japanese Courtyard Garden when visiting Phipps, but seeing them at their best is seasonally dependent. During this particular show, the Serpentine Room is full of several beautiful bonsai plants looking at their prime, and we quite frankly can't get enough of it- particularly the showstopper at the end of the room!

What makes this room special is that some of the bonsai are 30+ years old, are made with unique growing styles, and, much like other rooms in the show, have fun secrets to discover.

The Sunken Garden Room

Sunken Garden

The Sunken Garden room is one of the most recently renovated rooms at Phipps Conservatory, and for the 2025 Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, it sure does pop.

This one features an impressive collection of stunning orchids, including some of the largest and most beautifully colored you'll see in the entire conservatory. So if you take the advice of the frequent signs to prompt you to stop and appreciate a flower for a moment of beauty, be sure to do it here!

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The Orchid Room

Phipps Orchid Room

The Frank Sarris Orchid room at Phipps Conservatory is one of the stars of the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai flower show and features an array of beautiful orchids (and other flowers) with color combinations that are simply stunning.

We'll be the first to admit that the room isn't much different from other flower shows, but only because the Orchid Room is a favorite in every single flower show.

That being said, seeing beautiful orchids in the rest of the conservatory certainly builds up the appreciation before you make it into this room for your visit!

Overall, the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show is perhaps a bit more of a subtle flower show when compared to say, the Spring Flower Show or the Winter Flower Show, but as this one shows off two of our favorites during its January to March run, well, we really can't say no!

Phipps Conservatory's Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show runs through March 9th, 2025. Please note that as of our visit in January 2025, The Victoria Room was undergoing some renovations. We do not know if that room will be decorated for the show.

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