Sunday, January 24, 2010

DICHOTOMY



It is minus 10 degrees outside and snow is piling up. The weather is warm and sunny in my greenhouse. How would I get through the winter if I didn't have this toasty spot.


The sun does all the work. My greenhouse is below ground and faces south. The glass catches the sun and traps the heat inside.

I was supposed to paint the cement wall black. I noticed a beautiful building in Mexico with this fabulous blue color. The cement wall gathers the heat when the sun shines and gives off heat during the night. Black would have been more efficient, but oh so not my color.


Many of my geraniums are more than 15 years old. They go out into large terra cotta pots when we have nights without frost . . . . usually the first of June.

See the lemons on my lemon tree? They will ripen once the tree goes outside and then it will bloom again and make more lemons.


The curly cactus is called Lettuce Leaf cactus. It is a very prodigious grower. Every year I have to give a whole bunch of them away or they would take over the place.


I have collected a few dollars making bets with my friends. They tell me that petunias are annuals. No, they are perennials. This blue petunia has an intoxicating fragrance, unlike most petunias. It is called "sky blue". Normally I don't grow petunias, they are a little too citified for me and remind me of parks where row upon row of petunias are planted every year.
Gina

2 comments:

  1. Gina, I can't believe you've kept this greenhouse secret for so long! What a paradise, and the blue background cement wall ...! I just can't believe so much abundance of flowers and general beauty in the middle of winter. Amazing.

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  2. Hi Francesca, what is really amazing about my greenhouse design is that it heats my garage, as well and if I open it to the rest of the building, it heats the guest quarters upstairs. I lucked out with the design. The building inspector thought that I should patent it.

    Gina

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