M. G. HENRY 
How Thirty Species of Orchids and Some Other 
Pretty Plants Make Themselves at Home 
in a 6x7 ft. Greenhouse in a City Yard 
S HE floor space of my tiny greenhouse is 6 x 7 ft., “too 
small to be of any practical use’’, so everybody tells me, 
WjiMfM and yet it has been, and still is, for me a perfect little 
Paradise. 
My first Orchids were those a very kind friend brought me 
from Mexico. There were about ten of them and they were 
evidently in a resting condition as the plants and roots were 
quite dry. I had not the least idea just what 1 ought to do to 
them, so I opened the basket they were in and moistened them 
a bit and thus they remained for a week or two while I endeav¬ 
ored to learn what should be done with them. 
1 managed to purchase some books on the subject, which is 
really hard enough to do, as books on Orchids are scarce; and 
1 added to them as the years went by until 1 now have about 
thirty dealing exclusively with Orchids. Some of these 1 think 
must be quite rare, such as “A Century of Orchidaceous Plants” 
published in England, 1849, also the “Second Century.” Then 
in an auctioneer’s shop one day I saw eleven volumes of “The 
Orchid Album” and acquired these. 
ORCHIDS ALL MY OWN 
T HESE first Orchids of mine seemed the most beautiful things I had 
ever seen, and all had the typ¬ 
ical orchid fragrance. Even our 
hardy wildings have this odor, or at 
least most all of them do, and so do 
most of the Orchids of Europe. So 
true is this that, even in digging up 
their roots with never a flower at 
all, the scent is quite perceptible. 
I was very shaky about first pot¬ 
ting them up, although by then 1 
had read up quite a little. I had 
all kinds of ingredients for every 
sort of soil mixture that 1 had read 
about and of course many of the 
poor things perished! One day 1 
found an old gardener who had 
once grown Orchids and he helped 
PARADISE IN MINIATURE 
The 6 x 7 ft. greenhouse which is, for 
Mrs. Henry, “a perfect little Paradise” 
and where some thirty species of Orchids 
flourish, may be seen above (left). It is 
tacked on the rear of the author’s city 
home and is here shown with the shade 
let down part way to protect the plants 
within from over-much summer sun 
(see description below) 
TWO “CLOSE-UPS" OF THE GLASSHOUSE 
A nearer view (above) of the tiny conservatory and 
of an outdoor frame used as a starter for bulbs, etc. 
Winter’s sting does not reach this sheltered “little 
tropical world” where Orchids bloom blithely in 
February (see below left) 
me greatly and gave me some sound 
advice. By this time all the weak¬ 
lings had died and 1 had about six 
fairly healthy plants remaining. 
Some bloomed quite nicely after I 
had them about six or eight months. 
1 kept them in a sort of cold- 
frame all spring and summer but, 
of course, 1 knew they had to have 
a home and so the following sum¬ 
mer the little greenhouse was tacked 
on the rear of my house. Although 
my home is in the very heart of the 
city and the four-story houses are all 
built against one another, it still gets a good share of sunshine and about as much as it 
needs. 
The floor and foundation walls of the tiny 6 x 7 ft. greenhouse are of brick and the 
framework that holds the heavy plate glass is of steel. The lower ventilators and a 
large upper one give the ventilation so necessary. 1 also have a hook attached to 
the door so it can be held open a few inches and can neither blow shut nor open wider. 
A Japanese split bamboo porch shade attached to the outside of the roof and fixed on 
pulleys so it easily rolls up and down proves a success and makes the pleasantest 
kind of shade for a hot and sunshiny day. 
Six 4-inch pipes connect with the house furnace and keep the little glasshouse cos¬ 
ily comfortable even when the thermometer drops to the single numbers. A thin layer 
of peat scattered on the floor helps maintain a moist atmosphere if sprinkled daily in 
hot weather. 
Of course, in such a minute greenhouse it is necessary to watch the thermometer 
very carefully, as outdoor conditions affect it so rapidly. This is really the chief diffi¬ 
culty I have to contend with. 
The bench is of galvanized wire, one-half inch heavy mesh; and where the 
Orchids stand a layer of moss is laid. On the other side it is covered with a 
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