Vasya’s greenhouse AKA paradise

Vasya is one of the most humble and kind people I have ever met. He is incredibly generous with his plants and time.

Even though his greenhouse looks like it has been set up for decades, it is only seven years old! It is E/W facing, and the south wall is shared with the house, meaning that the kitchen window looks out onto the greenhouse! The narrow strip of land it’s on is nearly the full width of the yard between his property and a neighboring property, and a perfect space for a lean-to style greenhouse.  It stands 10×40 and has a steel frame, with double polycarbonate walls.  His partner, wondrously, is an engineer and designed the greenhouse, and Vasya built it to perfection over the course of one and a half years.  When you enter from the west side, it’s a succulent haven, with Mammallaria, Euphorbia, Aloe, Tillandsia, Agaves, Bromeliads, and countless genera that I had never seen before.  It is separated from the rest of the greenhouse by a plastic sheet, to keep the drought-tolerant plants nice and dry.

This Euphorbia is over 100 years old!

This succulent planting was amazing, and so well grown in that it was difficult to see the infrastructure holding it all together.

This beautiful Bilbergia was planted in the ground and is colloquially called the Friendship Plant due to its vigorous growth habit and ease of sharing with friends.

And now for the tropical side, which seemed to be about 2/3 of the overall space.

There were hundreds of amazing species, but these were some of my favorites.

Chamaeranthemum

Chamaeranthemum venosum

Piper sp.

Piper sp.

Neolepisorus sp.

A very healthy epiphytic cactus,

And a column of miniature orchids, a very efficient use of space!

This wire column for scissors and tongs had me drooling, as did this ingenious way of drying flowers (by the woodstove with bottom ventilation),

The outdoor space was just as incredible,

Thanks, Vasya, for the inspiration 🙂