The Eccentric Personalities Behind Sunnyside Conservatory

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mary Balmana grew up in San Francisco and has driven down Monterey Boulevard near the Glen Park neighborhood hundreds of times. She often notices a large, beautiful Victorian building tucked between the houses and apartment buildings that dominate the block. And she's wondered, what's the story with it? How did such a grand building end up in such an unassuming spot? Additional Resources: The Eccentric Personalities Behind Sunnyside Conservatory, a 120-Year-Old Garden in San Francisco Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Morgan Sugg from KQED's Internet Culture Podcast, Close All Tabs, and we're bringing the web to the stage. On Thursday, March 5th, I'm hosting Chronically Online, a PowerPoint party at KQED. It'll be a fun night of internet deep dives, niche rabbit holes, and chaotic slide decks, featuring internet culture researcher Aidan Walker, journalist Candace Lim, and a few brave audience members. If you can't be with us in
0:21.8	person, we will be live streaming, but we would love to see you IRL. So join us on March 5th. Get tickets
0:27.5	at kQED.org slash live. That's kQED.org slash live.
0:32.6	On 1440 Explorers, we talk to the world's experts to unpack the fascinating knowledge behind everyday topics that shape our world.
0:40.0	It's really easy to influence dream content. We can turn you into a drunk.
0:45.1	The credit card has massive negative social consequences and also it's magic.
0:49.4	The ancient Greek's idea of what a ghost was is very different to the modern Western idea of what a ghost is.
0:55.5	Listen to 1440 Explorers wherever you get your podcasts.
1:00.1	From KQED.
1:02.4	If you've been listening to the show for a while, you may have intuited by now,
1:06.8	but San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is one of my absolute favorite places.
1:12.4	I love all its nooks and crannies, the unique playgrounds, those long undulating pathways.
1:19.2	But I'd argue the crown jewel of the park is a conservatory of flowers, partly because of the
1:25.7	incredible and rare plants housed inside.
1:28.3	The Corpse Flower at San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers is now open for all to view and smell.
1:35.3	Like the Corpse Flower, which only blooms for 48 hours every three to five years, and stands more than six feet tall.
1:42.3	The Conservatory of Flowers is also renowned for its architecture,
1:46.0	a Victorian glass building, delicate, intricate, topped with a stately domed roof.
1:52.0	It's like nothing else in the city, or so I thought.
1:56.0	Turns out, San Francisco has another conservatory across town near Glen Park.
2:02.1	It's much smaller, only a quarter of the size, but still lovely in its own way.
2:07.1	I'm talking about Sunnyside Conservatory.
	...

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