Exhibition Greenhouses of the Montreal Botanical Garden

The Montreal Botanical Garden was founded in 1931 under Mayor Camillien Houde, after years of campaigning by Brother Marie-Victorin. Its Art Deco administration building, now the Marie-Victorin pavilion, designed by Lucien F. Kéroack, was begun in 1931 and completed in 1938, while Henry Teuscher laid out the grounds.

The large exhibition greenhouses were part of the plan from the start, but the Great Depression and then the Second World War held them back. Construction only resumed under Mayor Jean Drapeau, and the greenhouses were inaugurated in 1956, with chief curator Henry Teuscher closely involved in their design. The original complex centred on a main exhibition house, flanked by greenhouses devoted to cacti, tropical plants and ferns, among others.

A new visitor complex and the Molson reception greenhouse were added in 1995. In October 2024 the City of Montreal announced a C$450 million programme spread over fifteen years, intended among other things to renovate the greenhouses and redesign the gardens along Boulevard Pie-IX.

The complex now consists of ten linked exhibition greenhouses arranged around the large main house used for temporary shows, each devoted to a habitat or a plant group. The 1956 houses connect to the visitor complex and the Molson reception greenhouse, both added in 1995.

After nearly seven decades of use, their renovation is at the forefront of the investment programme announced in 2024.

The garden holds some 22,000 species and cultivars, a good share of them under glass. The exhibition greenhouses feature orchids, bromeliads, aroids, cycads, cacti, ferns, gesneriads and begonias among other groups. The garden also keeps a collection of bonsai and penjing, shown in part in a Chinese-style building within the Chinese Garden and in dedicated display gardens.

The main greenhouse hosts seasonal shows: for many years the Butterflies Go Free event filled it with tropical butterflies from late February to April, and the Great Pumpkin Ball takes place there in October.

The Botanical Garden covers 75 hectares in the Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough, just north of Rue Sherbrooke and the Olympic Park. The exhibition greenhouses are open year round, which makes them a destination even in the depths of winter when the outdoor gardens are dormant. In the warmer months a visit continues into the themed gardens, including the Chinese and Japanese gardens, and can be combined with the Insectarium, which stands on the garden's grounds and, like the garden, belongs to the Espace pour la vie museum group.