Coming Up: The Wild Bunch - Conservatory of Flowers

The Conservatory of Flowers is getting ready for a new exhibition. Called the Wild Bunch, they're featuring "some of the more ornery gangs of the plant world." What does that mean? They'll have plants that hoard water (cacti), "fat" plants called caudiciforms, and succulents. "These fleshy, and often thorny, plants are distinguished for their ability to survive the most extreme, arid conditions, and their swollen stems and leaves come in a stunning variety of weird shapes and unexpected colors."

You'll see hundreds of varieties like Lithops, which look like pebbles, some Dr. Seuss-like fat plants such as the flowering Adenium obesum or desert rose. You and the kids will learn about how the succulents have unusual adaptations to hostile environments, like their water storage abilities, drought resistance and sharp defenses against predators (hello, cacti!).

What: the Wild Bunch: Succulents, Cacti and Fat Plants – a special living exhibition that explores the dramatic world of water hoarding plants
When: May 6 – October 16, 2016. Closed Mondays.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays – Sundays
Where: Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Cost: San Francisco Residents: $6 general; $3 youth 12-17, seniors and students with ID; $2 children 5-11; children 4 and under FREE Non-residents: $8 general, $6 youth 12-17, seniors and students with ID; $2 children 5-11; children 4 and under FREE.