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Exploring the Greenhouses at Wellesley College

Dec, 2012
by Andrea Nilsen Morse
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When the weather gets cold, it can take a bit more motivation to go outside and explore nature.  Fortunately, Wellesley College offers a warm and interesting excursion for plant lovers!  I trekked out to the campus last week and had a great time wandering through their expansive greenhouses (16 in total, comprising 7,200 square feet under glass).

The campus houses the Alexandra Botanic Garden, the Hunnewell Arboreteum and the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses (named after a former professor of botany at the college.), all on 22 acres of land.  I’m looking forward to visiting the outdoor spaces (in nicer weather), but last week the warm greenhouses were more inviting.

Desert plants
You enter through the Visitors Center where you can hang your coat (useful since it’s nice and warm in the greenhouses).  From there, you enter the Desert House, where, despite it’s name, the space is kept relatively cool through the winter to allow plants to go through their normal stage of dormancy.  Cacti, sedum and lots of other succulents are on display in fun stone troughs. 

Bougainvillea

From there I walked through the Seasonal Display House and Alcove to get a glimpse of a large Camellia on display, the last of four that were owned in the early 1900’s by the founders of the College.  The space was full of colorful hibiscus, bougainvilla, plumbago, and other plants native to warmer climates.

Tillandsia

More tillandsia

These fun, sculptural plants which are members of the Bromeliad family, grow attached to other plants rather than in soil.

Plant tags help you identify what’s growing

A gorgeous white orchid 

The Tropic House

One of the next (and largest) greenhouses is the Tropic House.  As you can imagine, this space is warm and humid.  An enormous fiddle leaf fig tree greets you as you enter, and in walking around you can find cocoa, banana, ginger and all sorts of palm trees and tropical plants.

Great signage provides information
The flower of a ginger plant
View through the Cryptogam House

Pitcher plants in the Hydrophyte House
The last greenhouse is focused on water loving plants.  Here you’ll find rice, vanilla, papyrus, bird of paradise and the carnivorous pitcher plant.  This last plant, literally shaped like a pitcher, is one of several plants that will trap (and digest!) small bugs and animals.  
Wandering through these greenhouses was a great (and warm!) way to spend a few hours exploring an amazing variety of plants.  Open every day of the year from 8am to 4pm, the greenhouses are well worth a visit!

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