No sports under this dome

Towering palms, fig trees, cacti and exotic tropical birds are not exactly what you would expect to find in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Nevertheless, they all flourish inside this rainy West Coast city's Bloedel Floral Conservatory. Even on cold and wet winter days, the weather under the conservatory's huge translucent dome is balmy.

Located in Queen Elizabeth Park on a hill overlooking Vancouver, the Bloedel Conservatory is the second biggest domed floral conservatory in North America. Only the Climatron in St. Louis, Mo., boasts a larger dome.

Generous donations from Canadian forest industrialist Prentice Bloedel originally funded the construction of the Bloedel Conservatory. When it opened in 1969, this 70-foot-high structure was the first major triodetic dome plant conservatory in the world, and in 1972 it won a prestigious award for architectural excellence and innovation.

The Bloedel Conservatory's triodetic dome (similar to Buckminster Fuller's famous geodesic dome) consists of 2,324 sections of aluminum tubing supporting 1,490 triangular plexiglass bubbles. It is 140 feet in diameter and has 15,386 square feet of display area. No columns or other supports clutter the interior, giving the feeling that the dome and its gardens are open to the elements.

Pathways meander through three simulated climate zones: tropical rain forest, subtropical and desert. Temperatures inside the dome range from 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, and a computer- regulated misting system controls humidity, which can reach 80 percent in the tropical rain forest area.

Staff members keep busy maintaining 500 plant species and looking after some 150 birds. They water all the plants by hand and make sure that strategically placed bird feeders are well stocked with food.

Visitors enter the tropical rainforest zone via a bridge with bamboo rails, which spans a tranquil pool fed by an artificial waterfall. Elegant Japanese koi carp glide back and forth below. These colorful freshwater fish, whose name means "swimming flower," can live more than 20 years. At the end of the pool stands a palm- thatched shelter housing two pairs of boisterous green-winged macaws, brilliantly plumed parrots native to the jungles of Central and South America.

The path winds through a patch of jungle made up of plants from throughout the tropical world. Spindly tree ferns stand trunk-to- trunk with massive palm trees and spreading banana plants. Flowering bromeliads and vines festoon some of the trees. Brightly feathered songbirds are everywhere, flitting from branch to branch in the dense foliage. Every once in a while, an extravagantly colored golden pheasant from China tiptoes across the path and then slips back into the undergrowth.

The dome's main floral display is presided over by Charlie, a precocious pink-hued Moluccan cockatoo who enjoys entertaining passersby with his histrionics and extensive human vocabulary learned from keepers and visitors. Endangered Moluccan cockatoos are found only on a group of Indonesian islands where much of their natural habitat has been destroyed. More subdued than Charlie, but just as handsome, three parrots from South America and Africa occupy perches beneath a slender Senegal date palm, and two Amazon parrots keep watch over a bench on the fringes of the subtropical zone.

Changing seasonal flowers complement the conservatory's permanent exhibits.

Chrysanthemums dominate in the fall, replaced by poinsettias, Christmas cactus and other holiday plants in December. Spring brings azaleas, rhododendrons, Asiatic lilies and hydrangeas, followed by tropical flowers during the summer months.

A gift shop just inside the domes entrance carries books and souvenirs, including postcards of the conservatory and its floral displays.

A South American candelabra cactus looms over the dome's compact desert flora zone. This giant cactus' scented flowers open at night and fall to the ground the next day. Nearby, hemmed in by cacti of all shapes and sizes, a blue-green century plant thrusts its swordlike leaf tips into the dry air. The century plant blooms only about once every 20 years, sprouting a 30-foot-long flower spike. A relative of this plant common in Mexico produces a sap used to make tequila.

The plaza ringing the Bloedel Conservatory offers panoramic views of Vancouver and the peaks of the North Shore Mountains. On the plaza's eastern expanse sits a massive bronze Henry Moore sculpture entitled "Knife Edge - Two Piece" that was part of Prentice Bloedel's original gift. This avant-garde abstract sculpture generated much controversy when the conservatory first opened. However, it is now an accepted part of the landscape and a favorite prop for family photos.

A bridge arching over a 52-foot-high waterfall surveys Quarry Gardens on the conservatory's west side. Much of the rock used to build Vancouver's earliest roads came from these abandoned excavations, which were turned into gardens during the 1950s and early 1960s. Today, lush vegetation clings to the former quarries' steep walls, and people stroll among flower beds and lawns carpeting what were once rock-strewn floors.

Queen Elizabeth Park is Vancouver's second most visited park (after Stanley Park), and approximately 125,000 plant-lovers from around the world explore the Bloedel Floral Conservatory each year. In addition to being a popular tourist attraction, the Bloedel Conservatory is an important vehicle for increasing public awareness about the value of tropical biomes.

When asked what he hopes people gain from touring the conservatory, its supervisor, Alex Downie, has this to say: "I would hope that by enjoying the beauty and diversity of life that makes its home in tropical regions, our visitors might reflect on the role we each can play in conserving nature's gifts."

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If you go

The Bloedel Floral Conservatory is located at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. The main entrance to the park is at 33rd Avenue and Cambie Street, an easy bus or taxi ride from downtown.

Winter hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Admission: about $2.40 U.S. for adults, $1.45 for seniors, and $1.20 for children. Make sure to pick up a free self-guided tour brochure at the entrance. The conservatory is totally wheelchair-accessible. Details: (604) 257- 8570.

The Seasons Coffee Shop (open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily) and Seasons in the Park Restaurant overlook gardens next to the conservatory. For restaurant reservations, call (800) 632-9422 toll-free from the United States or (604) 874-8008 in Vancouver.

Tourism British Columbia offers a free hotel-reservation and information service. (800) 435-5622; www.hellobc.com.

Copyright 2002 Cowles Publishing Company
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