Very different greenhouses

As I mentioned on Monday, we somehow missed the orchid, fern, and carnivorous plant greenhouse when visiting the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley last March, we did however make it into the newly reopened Virginia Haldan Tropical House...

"Closed since 2020, when the exterior was reskinned, the Garden launched a successful $1.3 million fundraising effort to complete the vibrant, reimagined interior designed by renowned landscape architect Ron Lutsko, Lutsko Associates. This beautiful redesign fulfills our goals to create a larger pond, better visitor flow throughout the space and the ability to engage more with the plants. All within a 40 x 40-foot space." (source)

I wasn't able to find a label on this epiphytic fern, but it looks to be an aglaomorpha / drynaria... aka basket fern.

Anemia phyllitidis, aka flowering fern because of their fertile fronds that someone thought resembled a flower spike.

Macleania pentaptera, aka tropical blueberry.

The living wall, with its waterfall flowing into a large pond, was definitely the showpiece of the tropical house.

Costus barbatus, blooming in front of the wall.

The garden's website notes that "The living wall is a stunning, two-sided display of plants that creates an opportunity to show the evolution of land plants. In support of this educational focus, Garden staff will continue to refine and update the plantings with a goal to replace the commonly cultivated materials with plants from the Garden’s collections. We hope to eventually incorporate everything from tropical mosses to our own tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes)." (source) I appreciate that description notes the garden staff's involvement. Hopefully that means it will stay looking this fresh and full, unlike many living wall displays.

Huperzia squarrosa / Phlegmariurus squarrosus

I could make guesses at some of the species used in the wall, but they would only be guesses.

Side view...

And the back... 

The label says "Orchid cactus, Epiphyllum sp."

That's a colorful begonia!

This next greenhouse belongs to a man named Mike Clifford. He lives in the UK and runs Mike's Rare Plants. I wanted to share this photo (borrowed from Mike's Facebook page) because I love the idea of a shelf along the outside of your greenhouse, what a fun display space!

Next up are a few greenhouses on a property I visited a couple of weeks ago. The owner toured a couple of us around, and then disappeared. I had to leave and didn't get a chance to ask permission to use the photos here on the blog, so I'm not naming the who or the where.

I find all styles of greenhouses incredibly inspiring. How do people go about putting them together (if they're not a professional build)? What do they keep inside? Are they spotless and organized? Or a crazy jumble of treasures?

I love the passionflower gone wild in this one.

And the other plants too, of course.

The property included these smaller houses.

A peek inside one of them...

Next up is this...

There's the house it belongs to.

No, I didn't get to go inside, and yes, it looks to be empty.

Well, mostly empty, certainly not in use.

The house dates to 1926, I found this on Wikipedia: "The Joseph R. Bowles House is a house located in southwest Portland, Oregon, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bowles house is a 4,959 sq. ft. two-story reinforced concrete building with Spanish tile roof and Italian marble columns. The house is an example of 1920s craftsmanship wherein expense was no barrier." A couple other sources I looked at listed the square footage of the house at 11,267. So there most have been an addition at some point. I wish I knew the story behind the greenhouse! 

Of course I also wish I could get up there and see it in person!

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

UC Botanic Garden at Berkeley, where I stomp around the Southern Hemisphere

Editing down my UCBG photos I went back to my 2014 post hoping I'd shared a map (I did)—I was curious if much had changed in the formal layout of the garden (here's the current edition). The graphics had been refined, but the layout hadn't changed much, other than the addition of Julia Morgan Hall, which you'll see in the distance of a photo in this post. I've never been inside (think it was under construction in 2014), and I was shocked to see a a greenhouse near the Hall labeled as "Orchid, Fern and Carnivorous Plant House"...WHAT? It was on the 2014 map too. How have I never been inside!?! Augh...

Moving on from that disappointment, here's my March 2025 pic at the entrance to the garden...

And the 2014 version, back then it was sunny September day. Check out how much the Yucca rostrata has grown! There's still a palm, but it's seemingly shorter, and back further from the wall. There's also the addition of security spikes along the top of the wall in the 2025 version. Damn.

On to the garden's Southern Africa section...

Their Aloe plicatilis (Kumara plicatilis) is one of the first, and most charismatic, plants you see in this part of the garden. I remember it well from my previous visits and was glad to see it was still looking fantasitc.

As you might have noticed in the photos above, the whole hillside was alive with spring blooms, here is Ferraria crispa ssp. crispa (Western Cape Province, South Africa).

Gladiolus alatus (Western Cape Province, South Africa)

I didn't catch the name of this aloe.

Leucospermum reflexum var. luteum (Western Cape Province, South Africa)

Melianthus major (South Africa)

I've grown this one in my garden, as have several other Portlanders. The flowers are a little elusive in my climate though, as winter can sometimes kill back the plant.

Babiana angustifolia (Western Cape Province, South Africa). Thanks to Gerhard (my partner in plant crime for this adventure) for the name of this purple flowering bulb, it was everywhere but yet I failed to catch it's name.

Gladiolus patersoniae (Western Cape Province, South Africa)

Salvia lutea (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa)

Leucospermum glabrum (South Africa)

Cheilanthes multifida ssp. lancerata (Malawi [East Africa])

There's Julia Morgan Hall, and on it's right the Orchid, Fern and Carnivorous Plant House *sigh*...

If you pan back up to the above photo, and look at the V created by the two hillsides, this is the view in the distance, San Francisco! 

Greyia radlkoferi (Natal bottlebrush, South Africa)

Aloe maculata (Free State Prov., South Africa)

Aloe capitata var. quartziticola (Madagascar)

Caputia pyramidata (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa)

And our last plant in the Southern Africa section, Aloe polyphylla from mountains of Lesotho, South Africa.

Since I had just a handful of plant photos from other Southern Hemisphere regions I thought I'd go ahead and squeeze them into this post. Banksia aemula (New South Wales, Australia)...

Banksia spinulosa (New South Wales, Australia)

And then we're on to South America for some Puya admiration...

Puya chilensis, from central Chile.

While I would have loved a blue sky on which to capture those green blooms, the white gives them a clinical look which is fun.

Or maybe more of a flat-lay scan quality.

Puya coerulea var. intermedia (Talca Prov., Chile)

Silver foliage and dark buds/blooms... what's not to love?

Finally, we end with a fern from Chile. The label I photographed said Beilschmiedia berteroana, but that's a tree, so I'm going with what I think this fern to be and that's Blechnum chilense, aka Parablechnum cordatum or the Chilean hard fern (costilla de vaca... cow's rib).

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.