Central Park Conservatory Garden located on Fifth Avenue at 105th Street,phone (212) 310-6600. Offers Free admission for all visitors, 8 am-dusk.
The garden is considered one of the jewels in the crown of all Central Park. There is simply no where in Manhattan that there such a varied and wide collection of blooming plants.The Conservatory Garden is home to thousands of flowering trees and shrubs, annuals and perennials.The garden covers six acres and has a geometric design that contrasts sharply with the soft, natural contours of the rest of the park. Its unique design consists of three interlocking sections: the northernmost garden is French in style, where you’ll find the Untermyer Fountain with its dancing nymphs surrounded by concentric rings of flowerbeds; the central section is based on Italian models and its skillful terracing allows views of the entire garden; the south section is based on classic English designs.
The Conservatory Garden was requisitioned in 1934 by City Parks Comissioner Robert Moses, the garden was completed only in the mid-1980s. Its gates originally belonged to the Cornelius Vanderbilt mansion, razed in 1927, which stood on Fifth Avenue near Grand Army Plaza.