Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The Tell All Story Of The Greenhouse

I love our green house.
It is adorable.
It's been fun to have and to decorate but there is a learning curve.


Let me begin at the beginning.
The next door neighbor is a collector of tropical plants.
Every fall her husband puts up a green house made of PVC and vinyl.
She is happy. Her plants are safe through the winter.
I asked Bill if he could get one for me.
He wasn't into the idea of taking it down and putting it up every year.
I suggested we build one out of old windows.
He wasn't into the idea of spending years looking for old windows in precisely the measurements that he would need.
He looked online and with a quick click of the mouse we had a greenhouse on its way.
It arrived 5 days later.

We spent a Saturday putting it together.
So cute!


A few weeks later he build a section of cedar shelves to house plants.


I am a lucky girl.
I loaded it full of plants. I was going to overwinter my basil, begonias, helicopter plants, geraniums and asparagus fern.


It was going to be great. My spring planting bill was going to be drastically reduced.
I added a Christmas tree to give it evening sparkle.


It was magical.



Then this happened.


Winter 2017 - January 6, 7 & 8. It was 8 degrees.
It rarely gets down to 8 degrees in Texas.
Those three days have literally been the only winter weather we have had.
I'm not sure that we've even had another freeze.
We still could but I doubt it.

Everything was tucked under a blanket but I didn't have a heater.
It all froze except one geranium and a few of my precious house plants.



I've purchased some replacements and some new fun things for early spring.
So much for the reduced planting bill this year.








There is another phenomenon going on at this point.
It was 88 the other day.
I came outside and several of my new little plantings were wilted even though the door was open and the vent was cracked.


Don't get me wrong. I love this thing. 
It is great having all my flower pots and tools in one place but clearly there is a learning curve.
It's either too cold or too hot. 
I need a happy medium. 
I'll let you know how it goes throughout the spring. 
Until then, thanks for letting me share. 
Katie 


Sharing at these fun parties: 

15 comments :

  1. So much for that!! It does seem like it would be a great place to at least start your plants early. But then again the crazy hot days we have gotten (and will always get) do goof things up. Can you move the greenhouse to a different spot that might work better? The garage? Just kidding.

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  2. Well Katie, It sure LOOKS ADORABLE!!! Hope you get it all figured out. I would just want to play there myself. Did you have a link to where you purchased it?

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  3. In all areas of gardening we are always learning new things. I think your little greenhouse is adorable. This was only your first year using it, it will be better next year.

    Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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  4. Love your greenhouse Katie. Super cute. Sorry you had that bit of bad weather and lost your plants. I know that you will figure it all out and have this thing full of pretties come Spring.
    Kris

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  5. I meant to comment yesterday but the inter net was so slow I couldn't
    I just read the Bunny Bunny post. So glad you found him. I love bunnies too. I have two flat stepping stones. I would just cry if I lost them! I was thinking that you are in the Houston area. But the post yesterday sounded more like the we're having in DFW. Are we neighbors?

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  6. Thanks for sharing this, Katie. I have wanted a greenhouse like yours and had not thought of those issues. I will look forward to you sharing more on how you resolved the issues.

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  7. opps. When man plans, God laughs. I'm also looking forward to seeing how it goes. Have you checked with the neighbor to see how their plastic one came through?

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  8. Oh, Katie, I'm so sorry you lost your plants. But your greenhouse is adorable and your new plants are very pretty. Your husband did a great job with the shelves. I know you're going to have a lot of fun in your sweet growing space. xo

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  9. I had no idea it can get that cold in Texas! I guess you'll have to purchase some sort of heater in case it happens again next year. There's a lot more to gardening than meets the eye! I planted 4 trees when we moved into this house and we've had to cut down 3 of them. Two were diseased and the apple tree was so loaded with apples that a storm took down 4 of the main branches. I wish you luck with your new batch of plants!

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  10. O MY!! I also had no idea that it could get that cold in Texas.. I have thought of getting a green house but with the temps. here being so cold in the Winter, I know it would not be feasible.
    Thanks so much for all your visits! I truly appreciate you taking the time.....
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  11. Katie, That is unusual weather for your area. I`m sorry about the plants you lost. You will get the hang of it. Have a great day! Sylvia D.

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  12. Yes Katie, that is too bad that it got that cold. Certainly not what you are use to. We get a lot colder than that. I don't have a green house but I am chomping at the bits to get back out into my new shed! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  13. You had an interesting experience with your greenhouse, to say the least. We have often thought about getting one, but it would have to be heated in our climate.

    Thanks for hosting Monday Social this week, Katie.

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  14. As with all real estate, it's location. Do you have a county extension agent? I'll bet they have resources to help you.
    Myrna

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