A Trip to Paradise
Nov. 6th, 2009 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_lupusI have made a pilgrimage to a Sacred Place, and returned whole again.
Dad and I went to Logee's Greenhouse in Danielson, CT, last Sunday. Definitely worth the trip from my parents' house (an hour and a half), and I would say worth a day trip from my home here (three hours). They've been in business for over 115 years, they have thousands of square feet of greenhouse, thousands upon thousands of plants, and the grand showpiece, a 107 year-old Ponderosa Lemon tree. The fruits are as big as softballs, and the trunk and branches are twisted and contorted from growing inside a greenhouse for so long. Absolutely amazing. (I realized, of course, over halfway there that I had forgotten my list... dangit. I did remember at least the 5 plants that I definitely knew I wanted, and the rest... well, I knew I'd leave with more than I'd planned on. That's just what happens in these places.)
The Long House is the first stop, after dropping off jackets (don't need those in a 74-degree, 80% humidity environment) and grabbing a flat to carry the treasures. Filled with the first half of the alphabet, A-M, and the begonias. My first treasure was a new plant to Logee's, the much desired 'Pink Princess' Philodendron. A vining plant, with nearly black leaves, with variegation in shades of pink. Don't have a specific spot for her just yet, but she'll find a home soon... Next treasure was Coffea arabica, my very own coffee plant. In 5 or 10 years, maybe I'll have a half dozen beans... It's in its own pot now, one shaped like a coffee cup. I felt it appropriate. Bonus plant, too! 2 cuttings in one itty bitty pot, which separated from each other quite neatly.
Next stop was the Hoya table. Bliss. 4 new varieties are mine. One tiny (H. curtisii), one with GIANT flowers (H. lauterbachii), one white and intensely fragrant (H. australis 'Subspecies'), and one that may not actually be a hoya... H. multiflora variegata 'Shooting Stars', found online a very similar plant labeled as Cyrtoceras floribundum. We shall see when it flowers. I tend to trust Logee's; they've been doing this for a long time.
Into the Potting House next, where N-Z were... lots of lovely plants. I wish I had the light to grow some of them, because I'm *really* curious to see if the flowers on Strongylodon macrobotrys "Jade Vine" are actually that color... screaming turquoise, anyone?
The Lemon Tree House held the jewel of the permanent collection, the 107 year-old Ponderosa Lemon. HUGE. Amazing. Beautiful. Lots of hibiscus in that house too, and all sorts of itty bitty citrus trees. I hope maybe someday that my tangerine will at least bloom...
The Fern House held shade and terrarium plants. So many delicate fronds. Rabbits Foot ferns that put my little one to shame (though now that it gets water regularly, it's doing much better...), Staghorn Ferns longer than I am tall, and enormous begonias. Throughout all the houses, there were brilliantly colored bougainvillea. The peachy colored ones made me quite happy.
Headed back through the other side of the Long House, I found yet another plant on my remembered list, a dwarf lipstick plant. So cute! And idiot proof! I know right where that one's going, I think... I think in the sewing room...
We walked through a short hallway, down a few steps, through a canopy of creeping fig, into the Big House. Amazing, the way it clung and covered the walls and ceiling. The Big House contained a lot of plants that we grew at the nursery as annuals... they also had a wonderful selection of scented geranium. Impulse buy of one with apple-scented leaves. Fabulous. Picked up a special gift for Christmas as well... ;)
All the pathways through all the greenhouses were very narrow, barely 24" wide. Slightly wider in the Big House, I think. The floors were hard-packed dirt or old, old paving stones. In all the houses, there were narrow benches along the outer walls, and raised beds with wider tables running widthwise in the middle. Even in the Lemon Tree house, where a large portion of the center was taken up by the Ancient, they have found a way to stuff tables and plants everywhere. And they are truly EVERYWHERE. I have been in greenhouses in botanical gardens that have not been so full of plants. And no bugs. No spider mites, no mealybugs, no aphids. Beautiful, clean plants, maintained organically. Amazing.
Another really neat bit, is that the greenhouses themselves are halfway underground. About 3' up the walls is where the windows start, below waist level it's ground. I am certain that it helps keep things insulated in the winter and cooler in the summer. Will have to study them further, for when I build my own... :)
Photos of my journey through Paradise are here. SO many flowers. SO many plants. I need a place like this (though I'm sure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kurlon will argue that the apartment is getting pretty close... ;) ).
Dad and I went to Logee's Greenhouse in Danielson, CT, last Sunday. Definitely worth the trip from my parents' house (an hour and a half), and I would say worth a day trip from my home here (three hours). They've been in business for over 115 years, they have thousands of square feet of greenhouse, thousands upon thousands of plants, and the grand showpiece, a 107 year-old Ponderosa Lemon tree. The fruits are as big as softballs, and the trunk and branches are twisted and contorted from growing inside a greenhouse for so long. Absolutely amazing. (I realized, of course, over halfway there that I had forgotten my list... dangit. I did remember at least the 5 plants that I definitely knew I wanted, and the rest... well, I knew I'd leave with more than I'd planned on. That's just what happens in these places.)
The Long House is the first stop, after dropping off jackets (don't need those in a 74-degree, 80% humidity environment) and grabbing a flat to carry the treasures. Filled with the first half of the alphabet, A-M, and the begonias. My first treasure was a new plant to Logee's, the much desired 'Pink Princess' Philodendron. A vining plant, with nearly black leaves, with variegation in shades of pink. Don't have a specific spot for her just yet, but she'll find a home soon... Next treasure was Coffea arabica, my very own coffee plant. In 5 or 10 years, maybe I'll have a half dozen beans... It's in its own pot now, one shaped like a coffee cup. I felt it appropriate. Bonus plant, too! 2 cuttings in one itty bitty pot, which separated from each other quite neatly.
Next stop was the Hoya table. Bliss. 4 new varieties are mine. One tiny (H. curtisii), one with GIANT flowers (H. lauterbachii), one white and intensely fragrant (H. australis 'Subspecies'), and one that may not actually be a hoya... H. multiflora variegata 'Shooting Stars', found online a very similar plant labeled as Cyrtoceras floribundum. We shall see when it flowers. I tend to trust Logee's; they've been doing this for a long time.
Into the Potting House next, where N-Z were... lots of lovely plants. I wish I had the light to grow some of them, because I'm *really* curious to see if the flowers on Strongylodon macrobotrys "Jade Vine" are actually that color... screaming turquoise, anyone?
The Lemon Tree House held the jewel of the permanent collection, the 107 year-old Ponderosa Lemon. HUGE. Amazing. Beautiful. Lots of hibiscus in that house too, and all sorts of itty bitty citrus trees. I hope maybe someday that my tangerine will at least bloom...
The Fern House held shade and terrarium plants. So many delicate fronds. Rabbits Foot ferns that put my little one to shame (though now that it gets water regularly, it's doing much better...), Staghorn Ferns longer than I am tall, and enormous begonias. Throughout all the houses, there were brilliantly colored bougainvillea. The peachy colored ones made me quite happy.
Headed back through the other side of the Long House, I found yet another plant on my remembered list, a dwarf lipstick plant. So cute! And idiot proof! I know right where that one's going, I think... I think in the sewing room...
We walked through a short hallway, down a few steps, through a canopy of creeping fig, into the Big House. Amazing, the way it clung and covered the walls and ceiling. The Big House contained a lot of plants that we grew at the nursery as annuals... they also had a wonderful selection of scented geranium. Impulse buy of one with apple-scented leaves. Fabulous. Picked up a special gift for Christmas as well... ;)
All the pathways through all the greenhouses were very narrow, barely 24" wide. Slightly wider in the Big House, I think. The floors were hard-packed dirt or old, old paving stones. In all the houses, there were narrow benches along the outer walls, and raised beds with wider tables running widthwise in the middle. Even in the Lemon Tree house, where a large portion of the center was taken up by the Ancient, they have found a way to stuff tables and plants everywhere. And they are truly EVERYWHERE. I have been in greenhouses in botanical gardens that have not been so full of plants. And no bugs. No spider mites, no mealybugs, no aphids. Beautiful, clean plants, maintained organically. Amazing.
Another really neat bit, is that the greenhouses themselves are halfway underground. About 3' up the walls is where the windows start, below waist level it's ground. I am certain that it helps keep things insulated in the winter and cooler in the summer. Will have to study them further, for when I build my own... :)
Photos of my journey through Paradise are here. SO many flowers. SO many plants. I need a place like this (though I'm sure
kurlon will argue that the apartment is getting pretty close... ;) ).