Raising a glass to new greenhouse

We’re in the process of re-landscaping a garden in Old Marston this week and, joy of joys, the owners have an old greenhouse that is just begging for a good home. It’s found one.

I confess to being ridiculously excited about the prospect of this slightly neglected but still perfectly functional “playhouse” arriving in my new garden. My head is filled with thoughts of all the wonderful seedlings that I can sow and of the excess tomatoes and cucumbers that will be smugly given away to grateful friends and neighbours. What is more, I am getting it rebuilt Chez Patterson at just the right time of year and plan to get them planted pronto.

The controlled growing of plants has a long history, and goes as far back as Roman times. But the heated room for plants didn’t become a feature of the British garden until the 17th century. At first they were used exclusively as orangeries – only later were they employed for the cultivation of exotic tender plants.

The 19th century was the golden age of the greenhouse as wealthy upper class Victorians and aspiring botanists competed to build the most elaborate buildings. Joseph Paxton pioneered glasshouse design at Chatsworth during the first half of the century, culminating in his designs for the Crystal Palace – which housed the Great Exhibition of 1851 rather than plants.

For spectacular glasshouses, look no further than Oxford’s Botanic Garden where the first greenhouse was built more than 300 years ago. The Garden is the oldest of its kind, set up in 1621 as a physic garden. Today it boasts seven glasshouses open to the public, each dedicated to different climatic conditions found around the globe. So tour the globe with a visit to a tropical jungle, an oozing swamp, desert and alpine environments all in the space of a morning or afternoon trip. If you haven’t been before please do put it on your list, it is a wonderful way of whiling away a few hours and seeing a truly magnificent feature of Oxford’s heritage.

Altogether, the Botanic Garden greenhouses feature more than 1,200 different species. Somewhat more than I can hope to grow! But there is plenty of food for thought and inspiration to be found there. Thinking about food, perhaps my original plans for the greenhouse as an extension of my kitchen garden would be best – perhaps with the addition of grapevine or two? Paxton himself designed vinery glasshouses so I would be following a grand tradition. Before long I could be enjoying the fruits of my labours and raising a glass to celebrate the harvest with my first vintage.