LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, April 9, 2012

Don't Forget the Greenhouse

Easter egg hunts fill the weekend all over the country.  Perhaps the largest one around here takes place at the Biltmore Estate.  The children dash about picking up the eggs all over the lawn.  Story tellers and magicians provide additional entertainment.

Photograph from The Asheville Citizen-Times
Photographer: John Fletcher




Regular readers know that we visit the Biltmore Estate frequently.  We tend to focus on outside activities or the "special" guided tours.  On a recent visit we decided to go through the greenhouses.  While all the plants are impressive, the orchids grabbed my attention.


I love orchids and have grown them (one at a time) in the past.  They bloom for a very long time.  But then they stop blooming for a very long time and the plants without blossoms are not all that attractive.  My neighbor has a perfect place for growing orchids.  It's a bay window and she had the contractor put a large sunken area with a shallow sink in the window sill.  The sink has a liner containing rocks and water.  Fifteen or more orchids sit on these rocks and thrive.  At any given time she has so many of them blooming that one totally overlooks the other plants.  I'm glad she grows them.

I'm not a golf fan.  I never watch more than recaps of shots on television.  But you just have to love it when a man named "Bubba,"  a Floridian who went to college in Georgia, who never took a  golf lesson in his life, wins the coveted Green Jacket of the Master's Tournament.

7 comments:

Ms. A said...

The slideshow is lovely... so many varieties!

George said...

A visit to Biltmore is always a pleasure. We visit several times a year and never tire of it.

Folkways Note Book said...

You bring to your posts areas that many of us are not familiar with like the Biltmore Estate. Could not believe that this house exists in the U.S. It rather seems like the house portrayed on the recent series of Downton Abbey. It would be quite an experience to visit the place.

Like your header -- reminds me of a Hudson River School painting.

-- barbara

Anonymous said...

I have one orchid plant, given to us by my sister-in-law who lives in Hawaii. It's probably much easier to grow orchids there than it is to grown them here. I almost gave up a few months ago. The flowers were gone. The plant looked bereft. I tried to get my neighbor to take it because he has a greenhouse full of them, back at his home on the coast. But he taught me how to care for it. I was doing it all wrong! Now it has FIVE gorgeous blossoms. It is quite beautiful, and except for the leaf that I let get burned in direct sunlight, it's a magnificent plant! I love when it's happy!

Busy Bee Suz said...

I love orchids....and have had some 'dumb' luck with them over the years. Your neighbors bay window sounds lovely.
Bubba? Oh, you gotta love that!!!

Tipper said...

So pretty! I know a lady in Black Mtn who grows the prettiest orchids too.

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone.