Costa Rica Glasshouse
Take a trip to the tropics—in Cleveland.
Experience the year-round exuberance you can only find in a Central American rainforest. Our towering trees, ever-blooming shrubs, and rich vegetation lend a lovely, tropical retreat.
In this area, small bromeliads, delicate orchids, and lush vines cling to every surface. The Fire bush is nearly always in bloom, and it’s a magnet for nectar-loving birds that feel so at home, they often raise generations in our glasshouse.
Our avocado, coffee, papaya, and chocolate trees bear fruit on a regular basis. And our daily butterfly releases are often the highlight of a visit to the Garden.
Come indulge your senses, Costa Rican style.
Things to Discover
What’s In Bloom | Golden dewdrop (Duranta erecta), a Costa Rican native, is named for its golden orange fruit but before the fruit comes the dainty purple blooms, enjoyed by us and the butterflies alike.
Top of the World in the Rainforest | Walk up to the canopy deck and pretend you are on top of the world. The emergent layer of a true rainforest is 100 feet aloft, and if ours isn’t that high, it is still a great time and place to enjoy all the canopy epiphytes in color and in bloom.
Butterflies | Butterfly releases are often the highlight of a visit to the Garden.
Firecracker Bush, Hamelia patens | The “firecracker” flowers never peel open but nevertheless are attractive to tropical hummingbirds and butterflies. This plant is considered native to S. Florida and much of Central America. Firecrackers are shrubs with big attitudes and require annual boot-camp haircuts to keep them from |
more
The “firecracker” flowers never peel open but nevertheless are attractive to tropical hummingbirds and butterflies. This plant is considered native to S. Florida and much of Central America. Firecrackers are shrubs with big attitudes and require annual boot-camp haircuts to keep them from getting scruffy; they re-bloom 120 days out from there.
Juanulloa aurantiaca | Juanulloa is a tropical climber-and-draper (not-quite a vine) from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. That long, orange trumpet of a flower is custom painted and shaped for hummingbirds. But don’t look too hard for hummers in our biome, because they are much too delicate to subject to zoo |
more
Juanulloa is a tropical climber-and-draper (not-quite a vine) from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. That long, orange trumpet of a flower is custom painted and shaped for hummingbirds. But don’t look too hard for hummers in our biome, because they are much too delicate to subject to zoo environments.
Checking location status…
