<Mini-Greenhouses>

Growing plants in a protected environment has a very long history. Plato mentions small pots used by Greek women to grow flowers indoors, in time for the spring festival. Roman farmers used large slabs of transparent stone, mica, to cover movable containers and grow cucumbers even in winter. In the city of Rome people had little gardens on their window sills to remind them of life in the country.
The first ‘winter gardens’ in Western Europe date from the 16th century. Discoverers and botanists brought back seeds and cuttings in small portable greenhouses. To imitate their native environment the new plants were housed in heated, south-facing galleries with large windows.
In 1599 the botanical garden of Leyden University built its first gallery, which was succeeded by an ‘orange house’. Orangeries contained not only orange and lemon trees, palm trees and oleanders, but fuchsia’s and lantana’s as well. Outside tender herbs and plants could be protected from wind and frost by bell-shaped covers, described as ‘glass lanterns without bottom’.
In the 19th century, when it became easier to make larger panes of glass, impressive greenhouses were built near stately homes and palaces. These lofty structures of steel and glass can still be seen, for example, in Kew Gardens or at Laeken near Brussels. Such greenhouses inspired the miniature versions in this series.

The miniature greenhouses can be put together in spring to create the optimum environment for potted seeds, cuttings and young plants. After use they can be taken apart, washed and stored away flat until next year. They can, of course, be used and enjoyed as decorative elements throughout the winter, or taken on holiday to bring exotic acquisitions home safely.