Dahlia Garden

You are approaching the Dahlia Dell, a vibrant, sunken garden tucked just down the stairs from the Conservatory of Flowers. This spot is the living showcase for San Francisco's official flower. While these colorful blooms are now synonymous with the city, the dahlia actually originated in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. The Aztecs once cultivated the plant for its edible, starchy tubers and medicinal uses, long before it was transformed through European botany into the ornamental variety you see today.