This month is filled with memories, no matter how you observe the holiday season. For me, Christmas meant spending a week in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin at my grandmother’s home, where my Dad was born and grew up a small house on N. 63rd St. Food was the main feature: Grandma was a stunning cook in the Bavarian style of rich sauces dressing perfectly prepared viands, and there was always stollen — buttery, yeasty and sans marzipan. “Why spoil it” was Grandma’s dictum. But she did spoil me; the house windows were festooned with sparkling-colored lights and on Christmas eve, the candles on the tree were lit. Pure unadulterated, old-school, magic. To this day I have a love of decorative lights and make generous use of them in my home and in the garden.
The journey north from Park Forest, Illinois, to Grandma’s seemed to take forever. The route we took is no doubt much changed, but I do remember that when we got to Mitchell Park and its glorious trio of conoidal glass domes, we were nearly there. (On the return trip it was where my Dad would ask “What did Mom pack?” and the sandwiches Grandma loaded us with for the trip home would be unwrapped.)
During the mid-century period there was, it appears, an explosion in of neo-geodesic glasshouse domes constructed in botanic gardens around the states, inspired perhaps by Buckminster Fuller’s work. Some have not survived, others, championed by conservation groups, have fended off demolition and like the dome at the Des Moines Botanic Center, reclaimed their stature as integral features of the city’s downtown fabric. Mitchell Park Domes, have been under threat of demolition since 2016, but are now to be restored for an estimated cost of $134 million. A small price, to be honest: Their destruction would have removed an historic mid-century modern feat of architectural magic and erased an iconic landmark in the state of Wisconsin. But their glittering grandiosity will forever remain among my childhood memories.
Time marched on and I moved to England, living a bus ride away from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and its magnificent Palm House. I was a frequent visitor there, first with friends, then with husband, and then with our child. I found magic at Kew that conjured lovely reminiscences of Milwaukee, as we wandered thru the glass-housed ‘jungle’ and ate our cheese and pickle sandwiches.
I like to think those Kew days left their mark on my son — his interest in gardening is blossoming. Finally!! After years of resisting my advice to learn how to garden — it’s something you can do anywhere in the world, and there is ALWAYS demand for capable garden help — he, as a homeowner with a sizeable chunk of Colorado to tend, has seen the light. And I have finally hit upon the perfect Christmas presents to give him and our daughter-in-law; gift certificates: for him to spend at our local tree nursery on his choice of several fruit trees; for her to start the rose garden she dreams about.
If there’s a public glasshouse in your life, chances are it’s cheerfully illuminated for the holidays, Me…I’ll drop in to Denver Botanic Garden’s recently renovated tropical plant collection housed in superb mid-century Boettcher glasshouse. Along with memories, it will inspire me to illuminate my own greenhouse windows with twinkling garlands of colored lights. You might do the same. As they say: Too much is never enough.
Ethne Clarke, 2024
For more information on some of the places mentioned in the article, use these links:
For Mitchell Park Domes, see Friends of the Domes: https://milwaukeedomes.org/the-future-of-the-domes/
If visiting England during the holidays, learn about Kew at: https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas
Denver Botanic Garden is running it wallopalooza light show until 12 January: https://www.botanicgardens.org/events/special-events/blossoms-light
And here’s what you need to know about the Victorian Lodge greenhouse, the perfect gift for … whenever! https://hartley-botanic.com/product/victorian-lodge-us/