5 Indoor Tropical Escapes to Improve Your New England Winter
These five New England indoor escapes offer a taste of summer all year round.
By Yankee Magazine|Jan 17 2025|
Roger Williams Park Botanical Center
Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs DivisionEscape the New England winter chill with a visit to an indoor tropical paradise.
Roger Williams Park Botanical Center – Providence, RI
It’s 70 degrees at all times inside New England’s largest glasshouse display garden. Fountains murmur, camellias blossom, 40-foot palm trees stretch toward the sun. And you’ll feel the warmth tingling all the way from the top of your head to the tips of your toes as you inhale the heavenly scent of calamondin oranges.
providenceri.gov/botanical-center
Photo Credit : Heather Marcus
Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens – South Deerfield, MA
This enchanting indoor paradise features thousands of butterflies from around the world. Stroll through lush, tropical gardens filled with vibrant flowers, observe butterflies in various stages of life, and enjoy all-ages interactive exhibits.
magicwings.com
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum – Boston, MA
Come for the art, stay for the aah at the Venetian-style palazzo that Isabella Stewart Gardner once called home. Now a world-renowned museum, it shows how the socialite and arts patron surrounded herself with beautiful things—paintings and sculptures, yes, but also lush tropical and subtropical plants in the four-story glass-topped courtyard.
gardnermuseum.org
Photo Credit : Mark Fleming
Lyman Conservatory at Smith College – Northampton, MA
Give Jack Frost the slip at one of the nation’s oldest plant havens, founded in 1895. Among the 10 greenhouses here that are open to the public, the Palm House is a standout: Its jungle-like warmth and humidity ensures the comfort of its specimens while soothing winter-weary humans, too.
garden.smith.edu
Logee’s Plants for Home & Garden – Danielson, CT
Marvel at such botanical rarities as a citrus tree bearing 10 varieties of fruit, a Ponderosa lemon tree that’s been growing since 1900, and an otherworldly Buddha’s Hand citron at this family-owned exotic-plant specialist. And who knows? After wandering through the greenhouses and retail shop at Logee’s, you may just be inspired to load up on the makings of your own tropical escape.
logees.com
