Incheon Arboretum Greenhouses (인천수목원 온실)

Incheon Grand Park is a large municipal park of about 2.67 km² in Namdong District. Korean Wikipedia says it was created in 1992 and gives 1996 as the opening year in its infobox; about four million people visit each year. The arboretum inside it opened in 2008 and, since 22 April 2010, has been listed in the Korea Forest Service register of public arboreta, with an area of 24 hectares.

The greenhouses may be older than the arboretum. The official blog of Namdong District says they were created in 1994 to collect and display tropical, subtropical and succulent plants and to help the public understand them. The city's official parks website, updated in August 2024, describes the greenhouses as a space for safeguarding the species diversity of plant genetic resources, with two glasshouses, 332 species and 6,550 plants.

The complex consists of two separate glasshouses, called "greenhouse 1" and "greenhouse 2" on the official page, with a rest area attached; together they cover 1,192 m². The district's blog notes that the exterior has a timber-like look.

The layout follows the needs of the plants. Greenhouse 1, kept warm and humid, brings together plants from the tropics and subtropics in dense growth. Greenhouse 2, given over to cacti and succulents, evokes an arid landscape; an indoor bridge lets visitors take in the whole room from a raised position, and information boards explain how these plants limit water loss.

According to the city's official parks page, the greenhouses show 332 species and 6,550 tropical, subtropical and succulent plants. Greenhouse 1 holds tall palms, including the 공작야자 (gongjak-yaja) and phoenix palms, foliage plants such as monstera and araucaria, and fruit trees such as guava and avocado; visitors' accounts add begonias and peace lilies.

Greenhouse 2 is devoted to cacti and succulents: the Incheon city council's magazine names the cactus 금호 (geumho), and visitors mention agaves, crassulas and the crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii, 꽃기린). Everything grows under glass, so the display stays green in winter, and the district's blog in fact recommends visiting in the cold season.

The greenhouses stand inside the arboretum, next to the rose garden and north of the lake garden (호수정원). Visitors walk there through the arboretum, along a path lined with pines and a home-gardening garden of mixed plantings. The forest exhibition hall is also next to the rose garden, and the city council's magazine pairs the greenhouses with the park's wood-culture experience hall (목재문화체험장); the only restroom mentioned is behind the rose garden.

The greenhouses are open all year except on Mondays, on 1 January and during the Seollal and Chuseok holidays. The neighbouring rose garden, of 6,059 m² and 74 varieties, blooms from late May to early June and again from September to mid-October, which makes those periods a good time for a combined visit. The park also has a zoo, opened in 2001, and the Future Environment Hall, opened in 2007.