Conservatory Garden

Enjoy a stroll through the Italian, English and French-style gardens. 


Location: MAP | East Side between 104th and 106th Streets
Hours: November to February: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, March: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, April: 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, May to August 14: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, August 15 to 31: 8:00 am to 7:30 pm, September: 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, October: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm 
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible via the 106th Street gate inside the park; restrooms available but not wheelchair accessible

Located at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street and open daily from 8am until dusk, Conservatory Garden is the only formal garden found in Central Park. Its quiet, calm atmosphere - free from runners and bicyclists - makes it an ideal spot for weddings, photography, and relaxing afternoon walks. Seasonal flower displays are carefully planned and maintained by the Central Park Conservancy’s gardening team.

Designed by Gilmore D. Clarke, the six-acre garden is divided into three distinct sections, each reflecting a different European garden style: the English Garden (South), the Italianate Garden (Center), and the French Garden (North).

English Garden (South): Features concentric planting beds with bulbs, perennials, flowering trees, and the Burnett Fountain, a memorial to author Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Italianate Garden (Center): Symmetrical layout with a central lawn bordered by crabapple trees, a large fountain, and a wisteria-covered pergola, especially stunning in spring.

French Garden (North): Showcases seasonal tulips, chrysanthemums, and the Untermyer Fountain crowned by Walter Schott’s Three Dancing Maidens sculpture.

Visitors enter through the Vanderbilt Gate, an ornate wrought-iron gate originally from the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. 

The garden opened in 1937, replacing a glass conservatory built in 1898 that once served as a greenhouse for Central Park’s plants. After decades of care and a major restoration in the 1980s, the Conservatory Garden underwent a $25 million restoration completed in 2025, which included upgraded historic bluestone paths and drainage, restored fountains and electrical systems, enhanced accessibility with new ramps and realigned paths, replanted disease-resistant trees and crabapple allées, and revitalized architectural and landscape features.

For a detailed bloom schedule and more information about the garden’s seasonal flowers, visitors can find out more about the Conservatory Garden Flowers and check out the Bloom Schedule.