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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, November 11, 2013

The Mirgation is Almost Complete.

Heather from Just a Girl With A Hammer wrote that she still has some room in her house for tender plants so next year she'll buy everything.  Right now the plants that Heather has brought inside are in beautiful planters and arranged ever so tastefully in her lovely rooms. 
 
A few years and several plants ago, I started leaving the heavy ornamental pots outside and growing the plants in easier to drag inside and up a couple flights of stairs plastic pots.  They fit nicely inside the ornamental pots outside but are easier on my not getting any younger back.    Warning Heather, this could happen to you!  It's hard to see in this picture but the table that the plants are sitting on is six feet long and four feet wide.  We're looking at the end.  There are various stands on the sides to take advantage of all the light this turret room gets.  (The color here was inherited and we haven't changed it yet even though we replaced the broken curved glass windows (Plexiglass in some of them)  and had the sashes rebuilt.  Anyway, there are even more plants here since the picture was taken. 

The little glass room is full of treasures.  Haven't turned the heat on yet. Some year I'll invest in some proper shelves but for now these work.
 
 There's just enough room to drag in a couple of plants that will stay outside unless it gets really cold.

Am now hanging things from then ceiling as well.   Might as well use the space, right?  Mark and Gaz from Alternative Eden wrote about thinning out their collection and bringing in just a few plants so that they could enjoy living in their home all winter.  I so admire them. 
 
As the long night comes it's nice to know that the tender babies are mostly inside.
 Just found a couple more outside that I'd forgotten about.   A few more large things that will be stored dormant in the basement need to come in soon. 
 
From the outside all looks cozy.
 You'd think that someone would go out that upstairs window and straighten the finial on top of the glass room, right?
 
Having taken over these two rooms and part of another, I'm eyeing yet another space that gets some good sun in the winter.  Do we ever really use the exercise equipment in there? 
 
Each fall and winter I tell myself not to not acquire any more tender plants; each summer the hoard seems to grow in number.  I'm going to blame the nurserymen and women who keep bringing in such irresistible plants.  Where are you in your plant migration process?  If you're someone smart enough to only grow plants hardy in your zone, you may pat yourself on the back and feel superior.         

38 comments:

  1. Thank you Peter! But your rooms of treasures, wow! If you have the space and spare rooms then why not use them for plant storage in the winter? It's nice as well that your rooms look so bright and the aspect benefits from winter sun which will benefit the plants immensely.

    Your stained glass windows looks gorgeous btw, love em!!

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    1. It's fun for now but the annual migration does get a little silly when there are so many beautiful plants that are totally hardy here. One of these days, I'll pare down the collection of tender babies to just a few favorites. Thanks. It was fun making those curved windows.

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  2. That is a sight to behold. I have not brought in anything yet! Yikes! I'm way behind in that department so I am very impressed by your cozy winter house of treasures. You can go in there with your flip flops, margarita, and pretend its summer!

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    1. It does make me smile when I walk past the glass room and think of all the treasures inside.

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  3. That's a great shot of your stained glass room from the outside. I love your wonky finial. I didn't realize you had so very many tender plants that needed over-wintering.

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    1. Thanks. Debbie Teashon convinced me that I needed a tripod so I got one and was fooling around taking night shots using it. My tender plants hide out all over the place in the summer

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  4. Peter, firstly I thought you have a lot of free space for your tender plants and then looking at the wonderful stained glass room I saw you hand from ceiling some plants, wow! But what to do with favorite ones?

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    1. There are house plants that spend the summer in the stained glass room and the winter in my classroom at school. I don't know where those will go when I retire. Some day I will start giving away many of my tender plants.

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  5. I must admit I am jealous. All that space, all that natural light.

    I really thought my collection grew much more this year than it did. And thankfully I'm mostly done with the process - except for the frantic action that will ensue should really cold weather arrive.

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    1. I'd trade it for a smaller house with more garden space and a nice big heated and plumbed greenhouse!

      Wouldn't it be sweet to live where all these tender things could just live in the ground?

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  6. I count myself lucky that our climate doesn't necessitate this annual exercise. If we had a freeze, I'd lose plants but those are (thankfully) uncommon in these parts. I have nothing but admiration (and sympathy) for the efforts you go through to protect your precious plants.

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    1. What a nice thing to say Kris. I remember doing the same thing with roses and other plants when I lived in Alaska. I thought that moving from zone 3 to zone 8 would mean that I'd never bring plants in to protect them again. Silly me!

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  7. The stained glass is wonderful, and the space stuffed with plants is enchanting. I would love to have such an indoor jungle during the winter, but I just never got as invested in growing tender plants other than ordinary garden annuals. Oh my God, as I write this the rain outside is turning to snow. Must hide under blanket.

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    1. Thanks, it was fun to re create those windows. The funny thing is that I don't really do well with houseplants. These poor plants will be largely neglected all winter long. The agaves seem to love being ignored but some of the others really would like a little water every now and again. Oh well, survival of the fittest. What is that s word you just said? Yikes! We so seldom get snow here that when we do, things grind to a halt and we stay at home until it melts in a day or two.

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  8. If i had such a lovely stained glass turret I would stuff it to the gills, too. Nothing wrong with what you're doing!

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    1. The poor plants are balanced on each others pots & stuffed in so tightly that some will probably not get any water during the winter. Crazy.

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  9. Lucky tender plants in that lovely space. I 'd sit with them in a comfy chair reading all winter !

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    1. That was my dream in the stained glass area but the plants quickly took over the place.

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  10. I don't think I've ever noticed that "turret" with the stained glass before...love it...I'd make that my own personal reading room...if I still read ;-)

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    1. It's a fun space but even when we had a table and chairs in there we seldom used it. It's in an odd location and now it's too full of plants to do anything. I have to pull a couple of big plants out of the way after opening the door to be able to stand inside and water.

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  11. I really like your little glass room, it looks as a greenhouse from a botanical garden. I also tell myself not to buy tender plants but I never do what I tell myself so it is useless.

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    1. Glad you like the little room. Why do we even bother telling ourselves to use restraint?

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  12. I'm beginning to see that your house is not really for humans - it's only for winter plant storage! You have a beautiful room filled with fabulous plants. I'll start worrying about you when you have no place left to sleep! ;)

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    1. You mean all plant fanatics don't sleep in their cars in the winter? Maybe I have a problem.

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  13. Love that room, from the inside and out! You're industrious! I don't have many indoor plants, except in terrariums, because my cats eat them. Maybe I need to set aside a room free of cats! ;-)

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    1. That would work but I think I heard your cats say, "Don't push it lady, we're nice enough to let you live in our house but don't make us mad!"

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  14. We have a small greenhouse we keep at about 40 degrees for a low through the winter. If it doesn't fit in there, we don't have it.
    You, on the other hand, are a true plant collector. Maybe a bit nuts too! :-)

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    1. I am a little crazy! Your greenhouse is wonderful! I admired it very much when your garden was open!

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  15. I admire all the older houses with elegant touches not present in the newer houses. The turret is so adorable, the plants must think they are special to get to live in such a place in the winter. I have an area in the basement by a south-facing sliding glass door where I have house plants and also load in the tender plants during the winter, but nothing like yours. I also put some marginal plants on the front concrete porch, which I discovered moderates the temperature enough that things don't generally freeze there.

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    1. We're very lucky to have found our house as a derelict so that we could afford it. We've done a lot of work on it but it still needs a lot more. I dream of a small rambler... Sounds like you've got a great system in place for overwintering your tender plants!

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  16. dear og, You are so caring and protective toward your tender babies. And I love your round room with the stained glass. I think - don't try to resist the irresistable - enjoy!

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  17. Dear Mr. TOG
    I am in total awe and admiration of YOU !
    Your stunning house reminds me of the Victorian "green houses" and all of those amazing plants that you baby are totally too lucky to have you as their guardian.
    To acquire and care for so much greenery inside when the stark winter envelopes us .. well, I am "green"? with envy ! haha .. I don't even have a houseplant. I gave up after killing orchids, cacti, African violets ... well the list goes on it is too embarrassing .. how can I be a good out door gardener and such a bad indoor one ?
    I wanted to add .. I so appreciated your kind words on my last post .. thank you so much !
    Joy : )
    PS .. don't worry about the finial .. that stained glass is so totally awesome, no one will notice the finial !

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Joy. I usually kill houseplants too & many of these get neglected horribly during the winter. If they're alive by spring, they get another summer in the garden if not, they get to spend some time in the compost heap.

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  18. If you didn't fill the turret room with plants, what would be its purpose?

    I've been bringing in plants for weeks now, but it takes me longer. I aspire to a table and chairs and leave room but I would really rather have plants. The forced hyacinths are still chillin' -- I hope I left enough room.

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    1. You make an excellent point Jean!

      The first few years, I left a small table and a chair in the glass room with all the plants but they only got used once so the plants won out. Yum hyacinths to force. I can almost smell them already! Heavenly.

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  19. The glass room is AWSOME! Such beauty. So perfect for Sunday morning coffee and newspaper. Afternoon tea. Yoga and meditation.
    I can't believe you haul all these plants indoors every year, and back out in Spring. That's monumental and admirable, I think :-)
    I call tender plants annuals...

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  20. I am going to force R to read this post, but I think I will also need a testimonial from your partner raving about how he has come to look forward to the plant migration. We must all learn to share, right?

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.