Conservatory Valley
Park · Golden Gate Park, California
The sunken lawn below the Conservatory of Flowers, with the Dahlia Garden of 1939 in the centre of the conservatory access drive turnaround, planted with numerous varieties of dahlias, San Francisco's official flower. The Arizona Garden of 1894, a historic collection of succulent plants, lies east of the conservatory.
History
The valley was graded in 1872 under the direction of William Hammond Hall as a setting for a conservatory, and was sunk to provide additional shelter from the strong ocean winds. It was paved between 1882 and sometime in the 1890s. A concrete tunnel of about 1890, with a retaining wall and balustrade, runs under the main drive on axis with the conservatory. The James A. Garfield Monument, bronze on granite by Frank Happersberger, 1885, acquired by public subscription, stands on a knoll east of the conservatory on John F. Kennedy Drive.
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