The Conservatory Gets A Wash
Posted in Around the Garden on September 9 2011, by Ann Rafalko
This afternoon I had the delightful task of taking one of my colleagues from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew around our Garden (they had treated me to such a nice day when I visited them, I just had to return the favor). We were strolling along in the Conservatory Courtyard, marveling at the amazing lotuses and waterlilies, when I looked up and gasped in wonder: They were washing the whitewash off of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory!
And what an effect it created–half the historic building was glittering, crystal clear in the sun, and the other half was still wrapped in a gauzy white. The whitewash is used on the Conservatory in the summer to protect the plants in the glasshouses from the intense summer sun. But, after all, it is now after Labor Day. I guess what goes for human fashion also goes for Victorian conservatories. I guess fall is here after all.
Wow, amazing. Thanks for sharing.