As it snows outside today here in New England , I thought that I might portion out some images I took yesterday in my greenhouse – it will avail me in vindicate the heating costs , as watch images in iPhoto just satisfies me as it makes everything look nicer than it really is . Do n’t get me wrong , I love my nursery , but sometimes , late at Nox while I am place in bed , I gaze alert looking at the cieling intend ‘ I ’m bored with all of the same plants , so why do I keep paying the heating bill every week ? It ’s a reality many home greenhouse owners experience at one time or another I think . It ’s not that I have any regrets , but after 12 years of the same camellia , the same lemons , the same velthiemia , it all starts to find more like part of the garden which I am not only heating , but watering and maintaining .
Yeah – that ’s it . The risk is if one does n’t edit a aggregation in a glasshouse , the experience can easily move quickly from ‘ experience and discovery ’ to maintenance . I keep many plant just because I feel obligated to keep them . The gargantuan 48 inch tub with a gargantuan gardenia that was afford to me by a supporter who keep it at an estate for 40 year – who would need to throw that out , yet for 12 years , I ’ve hauled it into the greenhouse in the fall , and then back out again in the summer . The two elephantine standard bay laurel wreath are nice , but they now fell only decorative – architectural elements in the summer garden which would be missed if I left them outdoors , but somehow I only experience nostalgic about them , and the few leave-taking that they supply for the kitchen may aid me keep them , but again , it becomes care more than use .
Each yr I attempt to edit the greenhouse collection , but somehow old plant terminate up back in , sometimes just out of plain guilt trip . An quondam olive Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , which I have had for 15 years just ended up back in the greenhouse yesterday , as I felt bad about see it cover in snow , and yet still alive . Beside , my acquaintance Abbie Zabar in New York City would never let me forget it , if I allow my Olea europaea freeze down . ( Abbie – I do have some nicer varieties train to you precise topiary standards in the nursery – this was an old one , but I suppose , still worth salvage ) .
This year I add some Modern plants . A few fresh Jasmine vines which I imbed in the ground to creep and creep up the posts . A few other vines which will be in peak soon . vine are tricky if not risky things to implant in a greenhouse , as they always become too aggressive , but I kind of like that look . If I do n’t like them after a few years , I can always cut them out . Since my greenhouse is 16 animal foot tall , vines and magniloquent Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree do very well , and all of that extra space above my head , is essentially liquidate – and hey – that ’s where all of the heat is anyway !
Seeds are always helpful in making thing more interesting . I prove to always plant some seeds in individual containers each autumn of unusual South African bulbs , primula from expeditions which can not be buy anywhere else , and seeds from seed collector ( it helps that we lie with many individual collectors who often stay on with us when in the US for verbaliser tours at botanic gardens and plant society , so we sometimes get special seed gifts in the chain armour – nothing say Merry Christmas better than a wax envelope of rare Tibetan poppy seeds ! ) .
I also endeavor to amp thing up by sowing some of my own seed of uncommon plant . This may just entail saving seeds from the many species of Cyclamen I keep in the sand bed , or sow seeds from my own crosse made with South African bulb which more often than not maturate during the winter month . Sometimes , more often than not , seeds self sow into other green goddess , which can be both a oath and a gift . ego sow seeds often establish by ants , or by messy greenhouse caution , always seem to do better than semen which I seed myself . Go public figure .
My friend Jess will complain about this post saying that I am being too geeky again , but I think many of you , even if you are not a serious plant collector , might find some of these images interesting . face , it ’s the only way you will learn , and believe me – there are plenty of blog posts out there telling you how to thrust paperwhites and amaryllis flop now . It ’s time to grow a duad and raise the saloon number .
wintertime bulbs are the standbys of the winter greenhouse . Cyclamen species , some of which might mature in cold outdoor garden , do look best when kept in a winter greenhouse . When grown at waistline height , one can treasure the fancy foliage radiation diagram , for Cyclamen species have astonishing patterns . I do n’t grow any of the cross one sees at florists and garden center , but even they ( which are all developed from C. persicum – a tender metal money from Turkey ) can make interesting displays in a cool sunroom or windowsill when not in bloom . If I were to corrupt florist cyclamen , and I am often tempted to , I admit to searching carefully for the one with the most interesting foliage more than the heyday color .
This year I added many newfangled Lachenalia bulb to the compendium , and thanks to my friend Nicco ( Nick de Rothschild who keeps an crucial assembling in the UK ) , I now have many Modern species and varieties , and many L. aloides forms ( or new species ? ) that will be blooming soon . I think I added about ten novel excerption this twelvemonth , so that will be something to calculate forth to .
South African bulbs form a good part of my winter blooming bulb collection . Even on an overcast day , they look interesting . Once the sun comes out , the bud will open . Others , like many Lachenalia have curious foliage with fleck , pustules or colors that calculate great even when not in bloom .
Other flora may seem like odd things to keep in pots , but once they are in flower , it is clear why one go along them . Often , seeds of summer one-year and perennials ego sow into pots which are keep outdoors for the summer , as I often place large spate and tub of legal tender shrubs in the perennial edge . During the wintertime months , it ’s not uncommon to feel self seeded hellebore , camellia and even poppy coming up in pots of acacia and other poor boy tropical plants that pass the summer outdoors , and the wintertime under deoxyephedrine .
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