A greenhouse is like a jewel case. It houses, protects, and on occasion, displays its choice of items. Both its size and design, like the jewel box, are determined according to the use and pleasure of the owner.
Perhaps the resemblance is most obvious in the small greenhouse, for there, as in the tiny case, the individual jewel of the collection is the attention-claimer.
We all have our reasons for wanting a greenhouse. For the serious gardener, it is necessary to study and enjoy at close hand many kinds of plants. For most of us, we desire to give our pets the best growing conditions possible.
My approach was probably the most devious and unusual. Since a nasal condition made breathing difficult indoors during the winter, I placed water pans on the radiators to help create humidity.
I used potted plants to disguise the containers, but these wilted and died as quickly as they were replaced. As a result, however, I learned to like houseplants and soon realized that a small greenhouse was the answer.
Our Small Greenhouse
Ours is a four-square house, perfectly balanced, with an entrance in the center. The most logical place for the new greenhouse was the “L” formed by the end of the cast porch and the house wall, which faced south. This was a spot where rain never seemed to soak.
After writing to several manufacturers for a scale plan, we decided on one by its appearance as related to the rest of the house, its economy, and its ease of erection.
To erect it, a trench, 3′ feet deep and 18″ inches wide was dug, and concrete footing was poured to support the outer walls. These were built of cinder blocks to a height of three feet.
When the pre-fabricated sections arrived ready to be assembled, the glass sides and roof were mounted on the cinder walls and tied to the main house.
One of the porch windows was taken out and replaced with a Dutch door, while two steps were built to provide access from the living room.
A bench was built along the glass side, and fin-type heating coils were suspended beneath. Two inches of pea stones were placed on the ground below, and a walk was laid with old brick.
Use of Aluminum Trays
Four shelves are hung on the house wall, held by ordinary black iron brackets. A window box under the window provides additional space for plants, and aluminum trays rest on the broad sills formed by the top of the cinder walls.
Another window box is fitted into the corner by the outer door, and a shelf over the door leads to the garden.
With the glass shelves suspended over the bench, there is an amazing amount of space for potted plants.
Potted Plants For Handling
I grow my plants in pots for handling. Three ground beds give unrestricted root space for three vines: a passion flower, which blooms early in the spring; a stephanotis, which perfumes the air all summer; and a Chilean bellflower (Lapageria rosea), with its showy fragrant white trumpets.
Since the greenhouse was meant for winter enjoyment, we chose plants for winter bloom. Then we searched for rare, exotic, and fragrant kinds. We grow an incredible variety of plants in a small 8-foot by 8-foot greenhouse.
By actual count, our growing chart lists 150 species, representing more than a dozen genera. In several cases, there are as many as six varieties.
Our greenhouse year begins in June. Most of the heavy garden work was done then, and nights were warm in September 1956 enough for tender kinds to be moved outdoors. Finally, the entire greenhouse is emptied, even the peat moss on the bench and the gravel in the trays.
Every inch of the interior is washed and painted with a thin coat of hard white enamel used for indoor swimming pools, which resists high humidity.
The next clay, fresh peat, is put on the bench, the gravel (washed clean) is returned to the trays, and the shading is hung outside the glass.
All the cacti, succulents, gesneriads, and tender plants that must be protected from the onslaught of sudden storms and summer heat are returned to their places.
For The Next Winter’s Display
Tuberous begonias, achimenes, and gloxinias provide summer bloom, and seedlings for next winter’s display are grown during this period.
By September, plants that summer under the grape arbor are brought in, and amaryllis is set under the bench to dry off and rest for a month. Nerincs and lycoris that are baked happily in the hot sun are fertilized and watered.
Little by little, chrysanthemums are given a prominent place as the nights grow colder and the clays shorter. Then more and more plants are brought in, repotted, and arranged according to their preferences.
Riotous Fall Color
October ushers in the riotous color of the chrysanthemums, repeated by monkey-flower or Mimulus and the smithianthas, which blend with the ornamental peppers and Jerusalem cherries.
The brilliance of begonias, bougainvillea, hibiscus, and hybrid impatiens is counter-pointed by the blues of tibouchina, torenia, Tulbaghia, browallia, Felicia, myosotis, and plumbago.
Thunbergia, an Italian bellflower, erroneously called the star of Bethlehem (Campanula isophylla), jasmine, and a lovely moth or phalaenopsis orchid, weave a white design through the colorful panorama.
Last Christmas, the little greenhouse was crammed with poinsettias, cyclamen (both the miniature and showy types), begonias, ornamental peppers, Jerusalem cherries, ardisia, shrimp plant, and Christmas cacti, which had 40 blossoms with as many buds.
Others included echeverias, trichosporum, lantana, ruellia, miniature geraniums, impatiens, naegleria, primroses, lion’s tails, kalanchoes, and even strawberries for fragrance.
44659 by Helen I. Mcardle