SAINT PAUL, MN (August 11, 2010) – Como Zoo is excited to welcome a new baby giraffe to its herd. Coming in at 5 foot 6 inches, 145 pounds, the baby is standing tall & ready to meet his adoring fans. The new baby boy is the 4th calf born to mom, Daisy. The father,…
Hot, hot, hot!
One of the most common questions the zoo keepers are asked at this time of year is, "how do the polar bears handle this hot weather?" The answer? Air conditioning and chilled water. While polar bears in the wild would encounter temperatures similar to Minnesota summers in their Southern-most range, Polar Bear Odyssey which opened…
Flowers blooming in the greenhouse
Most visitors don’t get to see much of what is inside the greenhouses at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. Here are a few of the flowers that were seen blooming inside the greenhouse today.
Check this out from KARE-11!
Polar Bear Odyssey Opening Featured on Kare 11
KSTP Twin Cities Live Features Polar Bear Odyssey Opening
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Great Tour of the MMC Courtesy of KARE-11
Check out the Blooming Butterflies video from Kare 11
Is that a bonsai?
Frequently horticulture staff and volunteers hear visitors ask a lot of the same questions. Today we will answer one of the questions heard frequently in the Japanese garden.A lot of visitors ask if the short scotch pine in the Japanese garden are bonsai. Although the conservatory houses a large collection of bonsai, there are no…
The “Queen of the Water Liles” Blooming at Como
SAINT PAUL, MN (July 28, 2010) – Come face to face with one of nature’s most amazing plants this summer. Victoria Water Lilies, commonly know as ‘Blooming Victorias,’ are on display now at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Floating peacefully in the water gardens that surround Como’s Visitor Center, the giant platter-like plants offer guests…
Keeping cool in the greenhouse
In hot weather like this the horticulture staff is trying to stay cool. Greenhouse crops can also suffer from heat stress. The greenhouse is equipped with a pad and fan cooling system to mitigate the heat in the greenhouse. Pad and fan cooling is an evaporative cooling process. Fans on one end of the greenhouse…
Skipper Garden
The Skipper Garden was created by horticulture staff in 2005. It is an AZA Zoo Conservation Project that was created to raise awareness of endangered and threatened butterfly species. The Dakota Skipper was once widely distributed across Midwestern United States. It has experienced significant declines in the last 150 years. The Skipper’s primary reason for…
A little bit of winter in the summer
Over the past week, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory has received its annual shipments of poinsettia plugs and chrysanthemum cuttings for our Fall and Holiday shows. The horticulture staff have planted the chrysanthemum cuttings and will soon plant the poinsettias. We will be patiently awaiting their successful growth into the mature plants they will become this…
Happy Birthday Sparky VI!
Happy Birthday Sparky VI! Born Sealia, on June 23, 1990, this little California Sea Lion became the first female "Sparky" in 2002 when she first began performing shows. Since then, she has delighted countless zoo visitors with a variety of different shows including the "Wonderful World of Pinnipeds", "Sparky’s Day at the Doctor", and "Sparky’s…
New orchid additions to the conservatory collection
The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory has acquired 12 new orchids to add to the orchid collection. Currently there are about 850 species orchids and almost 120 genera. The majority of the orchids in the collection are native to South America. The new orchids were acquired with funds from a 0 conservation grant awarded by the Mid-America…
