Our new place has a cold, south-facing, window-filled mudroom. It was the porch at one time and still has the original stone window-ledge, window, brick facade, concrete floor, and functional doorbell. It’s not a very functional living space, but it makes a perfect cold greenhouse!
Since before the move, my poor plants have been suffering through weeks of neglect and life in less-than-ideal conditions. They’ve spent the last 10 days or so sitting in boxes; some getting too much light and others not enough. Several were in the cold room that shouldn’t have been, while others were baking in the heat without adequate water. A few were even stuck in the basement without any light or water at all! I haven’t lost anything completely, but I’ve come close and just about nothing looks like it did before we began the moving process.
I knew from the moment we saw the place that that mudroom would become my personal greenhouse. Last night, I finally had a chance to do a cursory setup of the plants along with a good watering and some pruning back of dead and broken branches. Hopefully the plants will bounce back from the abuse they’ve suffered. In the meantime, my friend Barry gifted me five new oxalis plants and a potted Scilla peruviana. Barry grows his in his cold greenhouse and I’m hoping mine will be just as happy in my setup.
When I went in there this morning to check on the plants, I was shocked and happily surprised by how earthy and greenhouse-like the room smelled. When those really cold, miserable days of winter start to get me down, I can putter around inside my little greenhouse, touch some greenery and smell fresh soil. This move is turning out to be better than I had imagined!
are your sure that the pic you posted is of your oxalis? It looks like a lupine to me!
This looks like a wonderful spot. My mother’s greenhouse is always a magical place in the cold months. Not warm inside by any means, but nonetheless, spring enters when it’s still deep winter outside… Flowers and sweet earth smell, while snow is falling on the other side of the glass. Hope you and plants enjoy your new room.
Sherry: I am very sure it is Oxalis palmifrons.
Your new greenhouse is absolutely beautiful and inspiring. And I see you already have a string of lights hung for a homey touch, cute!
Wow! I’d never heard of or seen it before, thanks for giving me the whole name. It is gorgeous…now I have plant envy.
Very slick! I’ve been thinking of starting to scavenge for old windows myself to make some sort of greenhousey type thing, but haven’t started yet.
So happy you have somewhere to go and smell the plants (LOL) during the winter!!! I live in central Texas and granted we have mild winters we still get cold snaps and that’s when I go to my greenhouse just to smell my plants, talk to them and promise them better days in spring. :)
Yee-HAAW!
Awe how lovely. What a fabulous place! I would love to have something like this, sigh. I will have to make do with my numerous and huge, floor to ceiling windows. It is not the same, my house is small and I don’t want it to look like a nursery. My detached greenhouse can only be used during the summer.
I would love to have a room like that! Maybe someday…
Melanie: Everywhere I live ends up looking like a nursery eventually.
Van: Those lights are little pumpkins left over from Halloween. I’ll take them down some day…
I’m intrigued, what is a “cold greenhouse”? Do you actually leave the plants in this unheated room over the winter?
P.S. I took one look at that plant and thought it was a lupine too.
Love the new space and glad you’re enjoying it so much. I have complete and utter cold greenhouse/mudroom envy!
I’ve just visited your kitchen on your Flickr stream. Looks great. And this greenhouse (of sorts) — heaven and a haven.
From your tweets and posts I know the move was very, very hard work. I’m happy to read the last sentence of this post. It sounds like you’re _at home_ in the new place, even though they’re may still be a lot of unpacking & settling in to do.