University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science
Anytime News
Article
ORANGERIES AND GREENHOUSES
Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor
University of Vermont
Did you
know that the modern day greenhouse had its origins in the 1600s? The purpose
was the same--to protect plants during winter and to grow plants outside of
their native environments.
The
first greenhouses were those of the Romans who use mica coverings to grow
cucumbers. Later Italians and French had
primitive greenhouses, with the earliest record in France of a south-facing glass
pavilion dating to 1385.
Early
greenhouses were constructed by the northern Europeans in the 17th and
18th centuries to grow oranges, a fruit exotic to their area. They
called the structures "orangeries" and built them of glass and
masonry and heated them with stoves. The
earliest were in Holland, but shortly after
appeared in England. The orangery at Kew
Gardens in England
was built in 1761, being at that time the largest glass greenhouse in England.
Peasants
could not afford to have greenhouses, given the high cost of materials. Thus,
it became a status symbol, especially among the aristocracy, to own an
orangery. Plants were usually grown in
large tubs, wheeled outside during summer.
Alexander
I, the Russian czar, had three. An enormous one was built at the Palace of
Versailles in France, measuring 500 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 700 feet high!
Even the father of
our country, George Washington, had a greenhouse
constructed at Mount Vernon,
his home. It was called a pinery, since he built it to grow
pineapples, his favorite fruit. Such
pineries were popular abroad in the past due to the popularity and expense of
this “new” fruit. A pineapple in England during
the latter part of the 18th century might cost the equivalent of $10,000
today.
By the
middle of the 19th century, the popularity of greenhouses had peaked. What's
more, materials became less expensive and more readily available, so
greenhouses and growing plants under glass were no longer a pastime only of the
wealthy.
There
was competition by cities and countries to build conservatories. These
housed exotic, non-native plants as well as common varieties, and were open to
the public. One of the most famous was the Crystal
Palace in London, which was built in 1851. One of the largest remaining Victorian
glasshouses in the world, recently renovated, can be seen at the New York Botanical Garden.
Today,
greenhouses are common everywhere, used both by commercial businesses and
homeowners to start plants, grow plants out of season, and display heat-loving
tropicals and exotics. Greenhouses come in all sizes and forms from large,
freestanding structures to ones that fit in an apartment window. Small ones can be purchased for a few hundred
dollars for starting and hardening seedlings in spring. Attached greenhouses are popular with home gardeners,
as they can be added to a house to form another room, which also can be used as
a sun room.
A more
in depth and fascinating history can be found online of orangeries (http://www.oakconservatories.co.uk/orangeries.htm) and
of conservatories (http://www.oakconservatories.co.uk/history-of-the-conservatory.html).
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