Zoo News: A behind the scenes look at the Buffalo Zoo’s greenhouse
As the weather heats up, so does the activity in the Buffalo Zoo’s greenhouse.
The greenhouse, located adjacent to M&T Bank Rainforest Falls, has grown into a major hub for the Zoo’s grounds team, giving them a home base for all their plant growing needs and goals.
The area has always been used as a greenhouse, storage space, and support for our grounds and horticulture team, but plans developed and initiated in the last two years have transformed the area into a full and bustling green space.
The greenhouse serves several important purposes, each playing a vital role in supporting the Zoo’s conservation efforts. First, it supplies plants used for outdoor landscaping throughout the campus, helping to create and maintain a vibrant environment for both visitors and animals. Many of these new plants are native perennials that provide valuable habitat and food sources for local wildlife and pollinators. They are better adapted to the local environment, and require less maintenance and resources once established.
In addition, the greenhouse produces plants for our indoor exhibits, ensuring these spaces remain lively and welcoming year-round.
Perhaps most importantly, the greenhouse grows a variety of vegetation that our animals can graze and feed on — allowing them to enjoy fresh, on-site-grown food. The grounds team takes particular pride in this last function, as it directly enhances the well-being of the Zoo’s animal residents. From herbs and grasses to native plant species, the greenhouse produces an abundance of nutritious vegetation — all while helping to lower operational costs.
Last year alone, the greenhouse produced 35,000 plugs for landscaping and thousands more plants for animal feed. When you break down the numbers, growing these plants on-site is roughly eight times more cost-effective than purchasing them wholesale — not to mention the added efficiency of the process. All this contributes to a healthier Zoo and local ecosystem.
Beyond its role in plant production, the greenhouse also serves as a valuable educational resource. Students from programs like our Life Science Career Lab, BOCES, McKinley High School and others have the opportunity to learn directly from the Zoo’s grounds team and gain hands-on experience in horticulture. One program highlight includes students potting their own plants and vegetables, which later find a home outside near Delta Sonic Heritage Farm.
April is typically one of the busiest months in the greenhouse, with plenty of seeds being brought in and potted to prep for May, when the greenery will be planted around the Zoo’s grounds.
Want to learn more about what goes on in the Zoo’s greenhouse? Check out our Wild Workshop: Seed to Sprout – Exploring Zoo Landscaping for a behind the scenes look at our greenhouse, hands-on activities and more!
You can get your tickets here.
