The Queensland Umbrella tree, Schefflera is an evergreen greenhouse or conservatory shrub come small tree distantly related to ivy. Given good conditions a plant under cover may flower and berry though it’s for the somewhat hand shaped and handsome foliage this is cultivated. Originally from Australasia these distinctive ornamental shrubs have proved popular in subtropical […]
Okay I admit of all glasshouse and conservatory plants Ficus benjamina might be considered one of the less flamboyant. Indeed this is just a foliage plant, mind you what lovely clean glossy foliage and on such delightfully neat shrubs. Tough and reliable benjaminas have long proved popular with gardeners and indoor decorators just because they […]
“Why are you growing houseleeks in your greenhouse?” said a friend looking at some Echeverias I had around the base of a Bougainvillea. An easily made mistake for these are a fine example of parallel evolution. Houseleeks are temperate plants designed to survive conditions as harsh and impoverished as crevices of dirt on rock-piles or […]
Okay of the many tender glasshouse plants Saintpaulias can be one of the trickiest. Yet almost everyone knew an aunt with a massive old African violet enduring on for years blooming almost perpetually. It will have been the original blueish violet flowered Saintpaulia ionantha, and it was probably set on a table in some north […]
Happier as warm greenhouse specimens than as houseplants are the gorgeously flamboyant Peacock and Zebra plants, the Calatheas, from Tropical America. Oh you can force some such as C. insignis or C. zebrina to live in a well lit house but most are much happier in a warmer more humid atmosphere, it’s their tropical jungle […]
For a wonderful display in your greenhouse or conservatory all winter through you just cannot beat Chinese Lanterns. These are long stems festooned with numerous orange ‘flowers’ and so called as they so closely resemble brilliantly coloured paper decorations. Also known as Bladder Cherries Physalis alkekengi really are most distinctive and have been grown since […]
You need a heated greenhouse or conservatory where the temperature never drops below 20°C/70°F to safely grow these rare bulbous plants known in Latin as Hymenocallis. Very closely related to Amaryllis (note the similar strap like leaves) these are amongst the most beautiful of flowers carrying a heavy vanilla perfume to add to their pristine […]
I recently wrote that for a glasshouse watercress was the most nutritious crop you could grow, and that still stands. However the huge productive capacity under cover can be more efficiently harnessed to produce even more healthy nutrition. And a very succulent, delicious and tasty increase this is; from growing baby salad leaves. You see […]
A greenhouse is not strictly necessary for growing grapes as a few varieties can do quite well outdoors. But by far the tastiest, more luscious and gorgeous varieties do have to be grown under cover and indeed there are few more rewarding crops. Now a large greenhouse used to be needed as grapevines are very […]
Few crops so require a greenhouse as melons. True seedsmen do sell varieties that may in a very good summer crop outdoors, but most years the results are rather disappointing. Come under cover though and truly amazing melons can be had of a size, sweetness and aroma far exceeding any sold commercially. The main reason […]
With a warm glasshouse you can grow this succulent salad crop year round. Originally from India long ago this self seeding annual is now found wild, worldwide. Introduced to England in 1582 it was in Maine, in quantity, by 1605. And by 1819 it had spread across the entire Americas in such local abundance it […]
Growing Peanuts in your greenhouse is an excellent way to get children interested. Pea, Ground or Monkey nuts are known to kids everywhere, if not as fresh nuts then roasted salted ones and certainly their famous butter. Actually Arachis hypogaea is not a nut from a tree but a member of the Pea family, somewhat […]
