Tag: botanical building

675 Poinsettias in Balboa Park’s Botanical Building!

This holiday season, if you have a chance, head into Balboa Park’s Botanical Building. You’ll discover 675 poinsettias! That’s what I was told by a representative of Forever Balboa Park!

There are poinsettia displays at the center of the Botanical Building, beside the fountains at either end, along windows, and here and there planted in the surrounding lush greenery.

All that holiday color is a sight to behold!

Enjoy these photographs which were taken during the first day of December Nights…

…

If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing Cool San Diego Sights on a phone, you can open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)

Balboa Park’s new pergola rises!

Balboa Park’s new Botanical Building Pergola is rapidly rising!

Three weeks ago I noticed the beginnings of construction. This newly created pergola, which will stand near the west end of the Botanical Building, recreates one of twelve pergolas that were originally in Balboa Park during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

You can see my previous photographs and learn more about the project by clicking here. Now compare!

Nearby, workers are continuing to install the Central Gardens that will surround the Botanical Building.

I must say the pergola structure appears larger–longer and taller–than I imagined it would be.

When finished, the shady, restful Botanical Building Pergola should be another beautiful and practical landmark in Balboa Park!

…

If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing Cool San Diego Sights on a phone, you can open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)

Plants appear for Balboa Park’s new Central Gardens!

How exciting! I see that potted plants have arrived in Balboa Park, to be planted in the new garden areas by the Lily Pond and around the Botanical Building!

The nine new garden areas together are called the Central Gardens. It’s a major addition to the park we all love!

Creating the Central Gardens with their new walkways and new pergola is Phase Two of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization.

You can follow the progress of the project and learn more about it by checking out this special Forever Balboa Park website.

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Balboa Park readies for the Holiday Season!

It’s late October. Early mornings and late evenings in San Diego have become chilly.

Walking through Balboa Park this afternoon, I noticed certain preparations are already underway for the Holiday Season!

The Old Globe’s annual “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Tree is going up in their outdoor Copley Plaza. I’m told the tree’s assembly began yesterday. In addition, nearby banners are being replaced and holiday lights are being strung.

The 20th annual Globe Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 9 at 6:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, in the center of the Botanical Building, a very beautiful harvest display full of Autumn color and pumpkins has been erected by the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department.

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Evening photos in Balboa Park on Labor Day.

Labor Day is coming to a close.

This evening, before the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s Classic Rock Band’s concert featuring music of The Beatles got started, I walked a bit. I meandered around Balboa Park and took these photographs.

The sun was setting. Here and there building lights were appearing. The Spreckels Organ Pavilion was jammed with concert-goers. A few people were walking down El Prado, or by the Botanical Building as the sky gradually darkened…

The music began…

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Phase 2 of Botanical Building’s revitalization begins!

If you’ve walked around San Diego’s Balboa Park in the past week, you might have noticed fencing has appeared all around the newly renovated Botanical Building. Phase 2 of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization is now underway!

Lush gardens are to be planted all around the Botanical Building! Even behind it!

The new landscaping will be receiving a $10 million makeover, with nine themed garden spaces. You can get an idea of how things might appear when all is said and done by visiting this Forever Balboa Park webpage.

Phase 2 includes installing dozens of historically accurate benches near fountains and around the Lily Pond, and recreating a grand pergola to match the one that disappeared during the federal government’s wartime takeover.

It’s hard to imagine how the Botanical Building in Balboa Park could become even more beautiful. But it’s going to happen!

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Orchids, staghorns returning to Botanical Building!

If you’ve been inside the newly restored Botanical Building in Balboa Park, you might’ve noticed certain plants seem to be missing. Orchids and staghorn ferns!

I visited the beautifully renovated building today. It’s now so airy and light filled.

I asked a Forever Balboa Park volunteer about additional plantings that are planned. He told me that the orchids and staghorn ferns that have been so popular in the past will be returning soon.

As I understand it, the colorful orchid displays will be just inside the Botanical Building’s front doors, as they were previously. The staghorn ferns, however, won’t be directly mounted to the building’s interior wall. Apparently that had caused damage. They’ll be mounted in a different manner that protects the integrity of the newly restored building.

Picture the beautiful entrance once again filled with orchids…

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Historic pergola returning to Balboa Park!

San Diego is going to be made even more beautiful!

A shady pergola that once stood near Balboa Park’s Botanical Building during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition is to be rebuilt!

The construction of the pergola is part of a larger Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization project. The Botanical Building’s amazing restoration has been completed, so it’s on to Phase 2, which includes bringing back into existence this historic pergola.

I noticed a sign on a patch of grass during my most recent visit to Balboa Park. It indicates the future site of the Botanical Building Historical Pergola.

You can learn more about the project by visiting Forever Balboa Park’s website here.

The pergola site is beside the west fountain in the front of the Botanical Building. The next photo provides an idea. (Behind it you can see the San Diego Museum of Art.)

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share this!

The restored Botanical Building opens in Balboa Park!

In 2024, the highlight of December Nights in Balboa Park is the opening of the restored Botanical Building, one of San Diego’s iconic landmarks!

After a two and a half year restoration project, which saw its steel skeleton repaired and new wood lath installed, the Botanical Building now more closely resembles how it originally appeared when it first opened during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition!

Enjoy these photographs, taken shortly after the historic structure reopened this afternoon.

WOW!!!

The interior of the Botanical Building now appears much more airy, light-filled and spacious. The amazing lath roof is more prominent, now that tall, leafy old trees have been trimmed down or removed.

Most of the new plants and trees still have much growing to do. Two beautiful new fountains greet visitors at either end of the garden. And, for the holiday season, many poinsettias are colorfully displayed!

Thank you Forever Balboa Park, the City of San Diego, and all those involved in restoring one of our city’s true treasures!

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

San Diego history on a Christmas tree!

This holiday season, the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park features beautiful Christmas trees in its spacious atrium. Not only has the 15 feet high Christmas tree made of blooming red poinsettias returned, but several smaller green trees twinkle nearby.

The more traditional Christmas trees were decorated by the San Diego Floral Association and are an extension of their Festival of Trees, a favorite December Nights attraction inside Room 101 at the Casa del Prado.

One of these trees I really like. It’s filled with old images from San Diego history!

I took a few photographs…

Kate Sessions’ Christmas Tree of 1915.

Panama California Exposition San Diego, California 1915.

Streetscape in front of the Hotel Del Coronado.

Dearest Kate, Here is a picture of your “Blank Canvas.” Your plants are growing beautifully. Your friend, Anna Marston. (Photo of the Marston House.)

Botanical Building in Balboa Park.

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!