The Waller Conservatory is a 1500 square foot, solarium-type greenhouse that is attached to the southeast corner of Massie Hall. It is part of the overall plant biology complex that also includes a support room for the Conservatory, large classroom/laboratory, conference room, and faculty office. The Conservatory was built almost entirely with donated funds; two large donations, one from the Kettering Foundation and the other from the local Waller family, were instrumental in making the facility possible.
The conservatory is used for growing plants for classroom use and as a facility for student research projects. For the visitor to the Conservatory, the most eye-catching feature is, however, the collection of exotic plants. Among these are such things as banana trees, a pony-tail plant, crown-of-thorns, various ferns and cacti, a tropical pitcher plant, and others too numerous to mention. Many tropical and subtropical orchids representing several genera make up the most spectacular single group of plants. There are almost always several, and often many, orchids in flower; this makes a visit to Waller a pleasant and interesting experience.