Jane, it is "Winter Flowers in the Greenhouse and Sun-heated Pit", as I mentioned up thread. Howard Porter, dear man in the Connecticut chapter of rock garden society, had a fascinating, rather high raised bed, square if memory serves. Tall post in each corner supporting a roof, open on the sides. Thus protected from overhead rain but some moisture would blow in from the sides. Both practical / functional, and elegant. Don't remember what he was growing but obviously plants that did not want much rain / watering. Where there is a will there is a way. No call today from the propane company so A) the igniter / pilot piece must not yet have arrived and I gather that B) no one will come today to install it. Himself put up a nice sturdy bracket on the short wall opposite the propane heater and an electric heater is now dangling there, prepared to be put into service when needed. It is mostly clear sky so that could be tonight. Judy in the Garden State of New Jersey. Tomorrow I shall cut back and dig cannas. On 11/1/2021 2:55 PM, Jane McGary via pbs wrote: > A book titled something like "Winter flowers in the sun-heated pit" > was popular among rock gardeners in the latter 20th century. The > described facility was designed for the northeastern United States, > and especially for growing alpines. A semi-subterranean alpine house > is described in detail in Fritz Kummert's excellent "Pflanzen f"ur das > Alpinenhaus" (Ulmer, 1989), which combines natural winter heating with > summer cooling, planned for Austria. Neither of these buildings, > however, would work well unless their site could be prevented from > accumulating groundwater in a climate with persistent winter rain. > Possibly an alpine house, intended to keep winter temperature barely > above freezing, would not suit the tropical and subtropical bulbs many > of our correspondents like to grow. I grow very few such species in my > Mediterranean house, which has moisture but not temperature control. > Sad to see so few temptations in the BX! > > I saw the Stonecrop pit greenhouse once, but it was very neglected by > then. I hope some of its plants were eventually rescued. > > Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA > > On 11/1/2021 7:28 AM, Mark Mazer via pbs wrote: >> " I remember Frank Cabot's pit greenhouse at Stonecrop in Cold Spring >> NY" >> >> Judy.....there was also one at the Ted Childs ( >> https://courant.com/news/connecticut/…) >> >> estate in Norfolk, CT. It was not far from his superb alpine garden. >> >> On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 9:59 PM Diane Whitehead via pbs < >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: >> >>>>> Does anyone use a solar powered greenhouse heater? >>>>> >>> Not around here. Never see the sun because of the usual winter >>> clouds and >>> the neighbour’s tall evergreens to the south of my greenhouse. >>> _______________________________________________ >>> pbs mailing list >>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >>> Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus/ _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>