Does the botanical garden in Savannah really need those tropical domes?

I went to the Savannah Botanical Garden last month and spent 2 hours in the new tropical exhibit they added. The domes hold humidity at like 85 percent and they cost about $1.2 million to build, but I saw more people taking selfies than actually reading the plant labels. On one hand I get it, tropicals draw crowds and fund the native plant programs that do real conservation work. On the other hand, we're in Georgia where we already have pitcher plants and trilliums that are just as cool and don't need all that energy to keep alive. So is it worth the upkeep or should they put that money into restoring the wetland trail that's been closed since 2021? Has anyone else seen a garden that went too glitzy and lost its local charm?

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sam_anderson1h ago

That 1.2 million pays for the rooftop solar panels that actually power the native plant greenhouse, so without the domes the wetland trail would stay closed forever. Those selfie takers are the same people who drop $18 at the gift shop on the way out, and that cash is what keeps the pitcher plants alive.