After touring the Bulb Show, I needed a bench and this one in the Cool Temperate House was just right. This collection of greenhouses are collectively called the Lyman Conservatory.
There are 12 separate houses each with its own controlled climate.
I sat in the Cool Temperate House next to the lovely red flowering bush while my friend zoomed off the see the camellias. I have often been in this room after the bulb show, but had never seen so many of the plants flowering. This room encompasses Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Australia and New Zealand.
It was much cooler than many of the houses and had a waterfall for humidity just behind the red shrub.
Oddly, there weren’t so many camellias in flower in the Camellia Corridor this time, as in past years.
Everywhere we went, even in the Bulb Show, we had seen orchids. There were lots of them here when I went to join my friend in the Camellia Corridor. I enjoyed the understory of flowering clivias. There was only one of these yellow ones.
From there we got the shock of going from the coolest area into the hottest and most humid: the Palm House. I took the path through the center of this house and found this hanging down blocking the way. It is a Heliconia vellerigera, kitty kat heliconia.
At the end of the path through the center, we found these intriguing flowers. I was getting too tired to hunt for markers for names. Sometimes I could find the name on the Greenhouse website, but not this time.
If you check the plan, you can see the tiny Fern House opens off the Palm house on the right. After touring the south end of the Palm House we headed into there.
I’ve always loved this tiny house. On our way back through I found a fern that had so many spores on the underside of the leaf, it was completely brown.
The Fern House leads you onto the Show House. From the website:
“Flowering plants are grown year-round in the Show House (named for the flower shows held here until the late 1970s). Its current theme is that of a Scent Greenhouse, focusing on a wide array of plants with foliar and/or floral scents.”
In here the jasmine was the prevailing scent on this day.
But I was impressed by the size of this lavender.
Upon entering the Show House, this pot had the most lovely bed of moss on it.
The Show House leads into the Succulent House. From the website:
“The display includes some of the major desert ranges on Earth arranged biogeographically. On the south side, (including the south half of the center bed) are plants from Europe, Africa, and Asia (Old World). Those on the north side on the left are from North, Central, and South America (New World). True cacti are native almost exclusively to the New World.”
This was my favorite cactus in there because of the colors and textures and designs.
In past years, the Succulent House has looked rather sad, many of the plants looking unwell. I was delighted to see so many healthy plants this year, this aloe and friend as example.
Another was this hens and chicks variety.
And on my way out, I found this pretty little fuzzy guy.
To leave this string of greenhouses one must again enter the Palm House. When we did we realized we’d missed the whole north end. I’d gone through the middle and turned right and never gotten all the way around.
The first thing we saw was this huge pink flower, towering up in the air about 8’. Once we’d finished the Palm House, we went into the Stove House.
We had been looking for the Bird of Paradise flowers and on our way out of the Palm House we found it along the wall of the Cool Temperate House. Most of the flowers had gone by, but there was 1 nice one left.
Both the Stove House and the Warm Temperate House have water features. In the Stove House, there used to be fish in the feature. But people insisted on throwing coins in and it killed the fish. But the frogs have managed to survive.
From the website:
“The Stove House, so called because it was originally heated by a wood stove, houses collections of orchids, bromeliads, and epiphytes.”
We went from the Stove House into the Warm Temperate House. From the website:
“The Warm Temperate House holds many tropical and subtropical plants, including collections of begonias, citrus, and gesneriads (gloxinias and African violets). Many plants that you may recognize as common house plants can be found here. A small tank contains aquatic plants, including duckweed (Lemna minor), one of the smallest flowering plants.”
I found a whole trayful of Venus flytraps.
And this unusual red flower, not like any houseplant I ever saw.
And as usual, the ever present orchids.
This little plant growing in the pot of another big plant caught my eye. I liked the colors, textures, and design of its leaves.
The Warm Temperate House empties into the display area, part of reception. I sat quietly there while my friend explored the display which featured projects done by Smith students with paper.
When we had arrived at the greenhouses, we had walked briefly through the Botanical Gardens. When we left we walked more slowly and purposefully through them on our way out.
This shot shows many of the greenhouses from the outside. The big one closest to the large brick building on right, is the Palm House, to orient you.
There were the ever present snowdrops, but we also found many snow crocus of different colors and one single yellow full size crocus. There were tips of daffodils showing too.
We found this spring flowering witch hazel. It was a contrast to my own autumn flowering bushes.
A close up of the prolific flowers on this tree.
That was then end of our visit. We had the long walk back to the car and I was pretty finished by then. But it was a lovely way to spend the morning.
Hopefully we will be going to the Mt. Holyoke College Bulb Show next Monday. I’ve not been to this one as often, but I prefer it over the Smith one.