Baltimore keeps a rainforest in a glass palace. The Howard Peter Rawlings Conservatory (1888) — the second-oldest steel-frame glass conservatory still standing in America — shelters five distinct houses in Druid Hill Park: palms soaring in the Palm House, orchids in their own room, Mediterranean and tropical houses, and a desert of cacti that glows in winter sun.
For families it’s a rainy-day miracle and a winter tonic: kids hunt for bananas and cocoa pods, watch koi drift in the orchid house pool and warm up among the palms when the Maryland wind bites. The conservatory’s seasonal displays — spring bulbs, fall chrysanthemums — keep local families returning.
The Rawlings Conservatory stands on Gwynns Falls Parkway in Druid Hill Park, with modest admission and free days posted. Hours at rawlingsconservatory.org.
