The Greenhouse     " Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. " - Lindley Karstens -    I love flowers and gardening. As I live in an apartment, I don't have a garden, but I have many flower pots in which I keep my plants all year long. The seasons in Rio don't vary much, so they last for months or years and always look beautiful. Some of my favorites flowers are tulips, pansies and sunflowers. Unfortunately we don't see them so often in gardens or parks here where I live, mostly in flower shops or greenhouses. When I was in France I saw fields filled with beautiful sunflowers and I was delighted with such beauty. I had never seen so many together. Here is the spot in my living room where I grow most of my plants. I have about 30 flower pots at home and I have different kinds of plants that look beautiful the whole year through. This picture below was taken on February 14th 2005 (summer season in Brazil).   Here are a few pictures of some of my plants. I love this flower. It's very beautiful and the colors are great. Unfortunately I don't know its name in English, here in Brasil it's called "Rubi". These tiny round flowers are very cute. I don't know how they're called in English. The Portuguese name is "Perpétua". My husband bought the first ones in February 2003 and we have grown them at home since then. We use to plant its seeds in other pots and give it to friends. They grow well with plenty of sunshine and lots of water. The ones in the pictures were all planted by me from seeds I took from the other flowers. Here they are in my son's bedroom window parapet, the "perpétuas" and the "rubis". What a lovely view to have every morning. The "perpétuas" bloom all year long and I have flowers at home every day of the year, no matter the weather or the season. :o) This hibiscus was planted in February 2004 and we have beautiful flowers on our bedroom window almost everyday since then. Lovely, isn't it? The flowers last only one day, but they bloom almost daily.  There is nothing special in this plant, but I love it. It has very thin leaves. It's called "Alfinete", the Portuguese name for pin. It looks very beautiful in my window. The Portuguese name for this little tree is "Árvore da Felicidade" and I have it since 1996. This picture was taken in 2003 and it has double the size now. "Árvore" is the Portuguese word for tree and "felicidade" means happiness. The small pot outside the window is a small branch I cut from the large one which we gave to a friend after it grew. There are two kinds of this tree, the male and the female, this one in the picture is the female (scientific name: Polyscias fruticosa). Here is the male tree (scientific name: Polyscias guilfoylei). Its leaves are larger and rounder than the leaves of the female tree. The tree in the background with darker green leaves is the same tree in the picture above, two years later. This picture was taken in February 2005. A closer view of the tree. The legend says that to have fortune, we must have both male and female, but we need to receive them as a gift. I received the female tree we have at home from my sister and a friend of my husband's gave us the male tree in January 2005.  I have this plant since 1998. Its Portuguese name is "Jibóia" (scientific name: Epipremnum pinnatum). It grows both with its roots in the soil or in the water. It likes plenty of sun, but grows well indoors too. Here is a tangerine tree that I'm growing since the beginning of 2003. I planted the seeds in a small pot and after two years I transferred the tree to a larger one and it is in my bedroom's parapet window now, where there is plenty of sunlight. After it grows I'll plant it together with my son and my husband in the garden of our beach house that we are building.  Here are my African Marigolds (the yellow one is behind the orange marigold), and my pepper plant, plenty of peppers starting to grow. We use to pick them up and use it to season some dishes. This picture was taken in February 2005.   Use the menu below to view the other pages in the greenhouse.   The Greenhouse Menu   Tulips   Pansies   Sunflowers   Lavender   Herbs   The Flowers Click below if you have clicked on Spring Tour on the Spring Main Page. | Continue the Spring tour |     | Back to the Spring Menu | This page was created on: September 1st 2001. Last updated on: March 5th 2005. [ Site Index ] [ Home ] Gardening Quote from: Poems and Quotes for Scrapbookers.  ~ Graphics by Irene ~ Graphics by Grace ~. Please, note that Graphics by Grace is not on line anymore.

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