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Krohn Conservatory's annual holiday show opens Saturday

327 views · Published 14 November 2018 · 3:27 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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MT. ADAMS, Ohio (WKRC) - Lights, trains and a whole lot of plants -- plus plenty of other things as well. The annual Krohn Conservatory Holiday Show opens Saturday morning.

Krohn Conservatory is celebrating its 85th anniversary. Some things in the holiday show are old favorites, and some are new.

"The trains are a tradition for us now," said Andrea Schepmann, the conservatory's general manager.

If you have trains, of course you have to have train stations and plenty of other structures that, when you look at them, you kind of wonder: How did they do that?

"We call them botanical architecture. A lot of the ones that are in our display are Cincinnati buildings that they've built for us specifically," said Schepmann.

The ones making the buildings are from a local company called Applied Imagination, which designs and puts together shows like this. And in 2018, the new structures include things like the Statue of Liberty, the lodge at Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore.

"We're doing the National Park series of buildings that were created for the 100th anniversary of the national parks," Schepmann said.

Seeing iconic Cincinnati structures in the midst of Krohn Conservatory plants -- buildings like Procter & Gamble and the suspension bridge -- is a Cincinnati lesson on present and past.

"Some of them are historical structures that those particular structures are no longer in Cincinnati, like some of the Mt. Adams buildings, the Mt. Adams Incline. And then we also have the Great American building with the big tiara on top," said Schepmann.

The show is called "A Crystal Holiday."  You come for the sparkle, the cool buildings and maybe learn a bit about nature in the process.

"In a sense, it's sort of stealth programming. When the kids say, 'Well, what is that bark that's all over that structure there?' or 'Look at those little pine cones.' And maybe a greater appreciation for nature as a whole once you come through here for your Cincinnati holiday tradition," said Schepmann.

Some things won't be up until the show opens Saturday morning, including a replica Krohn Conservatory and an Old Faithful geyser that actually works.

The holiday show opens Saturday at 10 a.m. and runs through Jan. 6. It's $7 for adults, $4 for children ages 5-17 and children under 5 get in free.

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