The Glasshouse: Beauty and Wonder inside Green Spring Gardens
Sunny Greene, FROGS Board Member
If you’re not familiar with Green Spring’s amazing Glasshouse, you’re in for a unique treat.
As you enter the Horticulture Center, turn to the right, go down the hallway, and you will open the door to a conservatory of glorious plants. This small but precious area is lovingly cared for by Horticultural Technician Parker Jennings. Parker assumed responsibility for the Glasshouse nearly three years ago. He remembers being overwhelmed at first by the quantity, variety, and needs of the plants. Slowly but surely, Parker’s trained artistic eye and horticultural knowledge transformed the space into something quite special.
Parker lovingly rearranged and regrouped the displays according to habitat and species, with those needing more sun placed in the back of the conservatory, those more shade-tolerant in front. Knowing that visitors delight in seeing flowers, Parker placed an impressive orchid collection as a focal point when you enter. But don’t just look down or at eye level: there are now many added plant baskets hanging from the rafters. If you were in the Glasshouse during the holiday season, you were also no doubt delighted by the “tree,” composed entirely of bromeliads and epiphytes.
Among the many botanical treasures in the Glasshouse, note the jade tree on the right side that is at least 50 years old, as well as the enormous fig tree in the back right corner. You’ll see new varieties of plants which Parker orders from numerous growers, sometimes propagating them from seed in Green Spring’s polyhouses. A wealth of plant signage helps visitors with plant identification. There are even two chairs placed in the middle for seating and reflection.
The Glasshouse is open year-round during the Horticulture Center's normal hours.
Glasshouse photos by Fred Blott.
