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We have no idea when some farmer got the idea of choosing a site protected from the wind, with an exposure to the longest hours of sunlight, or who first carried water to nourish that plant. Today we take for granted the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in computer-monitored locations that bring us year-round production. Obviously this is the result of centuries, perhaps eons, of experimentation and invention. Two hundreds years ago, our ancestors had a very good idea of what was needed for maximum production, and they were quickly developing the technological requirements for success. The Oak Park Conservatory was started as a community effort ····in 1914 with plants from around the world, brought back by residents. (Customs inspections were different then!) Today, it has 8,000 square feet of growing areas, making it the third largest conservatory in the Chicago area! More than 16,000 people visit the Conservatory each year, and the number of educational programs continues to grow. It is often used as a meeting place for Chicago area plant enthusiasts, including the begonia, gesneriad, and cactus and succulent societies. The Conservatory offers many special exhibitions and programs. Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory "The Domes": Experience a desert oasis, a tropical jungle and special floral gardens all in one afternoon! The incredible diversity of plantlife you will encounter reminds us all of the Earth's unique diversity of plant and animal species so very vital to our own survival. Come to the deserts of Africa, Madagascar, South America and North America in the Arid Dome where one of the world's finest collections of cacti, succulents, shrubs and arid-land bulbs grow. An Oasis of Pampas Grass and desert palms beckons as paths lead you past many plant oddities with intriguing geometric forms, subtle coloration and unique adaptations to hot, dry habitats. By the seventeenth century, various techniques for extending growing cycle and preserving plants from frost were invented in Germany and the low countries. In Heidelberg, individual shutters were set up around 340 orange trees in September and removed at Easter. This procedure was copied to protect England's first orange trees at Beddington. Diarist John Evelyn wrote in 1658 of the orange trees protected there by "a wooden tabernacle and stoves." Further developments in specularia included ducts carrying hot water or cool air, typical of Roman engineering. Among the plants grown in this mica-roofed structures were grapes, peaches and roses. Visited annually by approximately 400,000 people, the Assiniboine Park Conservatory offers 10 different displays a year in the Floral Display Gallery, including Orchid and Bonsai shows and a special Holiday Lights Display over the Christmas season. Dating from 1914, the Palm House exhibits a tropical jungle; visitors walk under a canopy of mature tropical trees and admire orchids selected from the Conservatory's extensive collection. The Garden Restaurant serves light meals and refreshments in a garden atmosphere. The original Assiniboine Park Conservatory was built in 1914. It is the oldest facility of its kind in Western Canada. In the style of 19th and early 20th century conservatories, the original Conservatory was composed primarily of glass (to admit maximum light) and supported by a framework of iron. While common in Europe, conservatories are now beginning to increase in popularity in the U.S. as homeowners discover a variety of uses for these one-of-a-kind "glass houses." Many conservatories, are used as breakfast rooms or additions to gourmet kitchens, while others serve specific purposes, such as a music room or natural bridge between the house and garden. Conservatories have a rich history, going back to the days when wealthy families of Victorian Europe would travel the world and bring back rare spices or lemon and orange trees. They needed warm climates to survive the colder months, so the idea of a glass-enclosed conservatory was developed to nurture the exotic plants and specimens from the homeowner's world travels. Thomas Albert Knight (1759-1838) published a paper in 1812, laying out his theories on the most efficient structure of glasshouses. Rather than designing them based on the style of existing orangeries, Knight proposed different arrangements with curving walls and roofs. His work supplemented the achievements of John Claudius Loudon (1782-1843), who studied growing techniques all over Europe and was an admirer of Thomas Jefferson. Elizabeth Rogers in her book Landscape Design, writes, "Experimenting with different shapes and structural techniques in his Bayswater garden, in 1816 Loudon invented a curvilinear sash bar of wrought iron. His experiments also led him to propose a 'ridge and furrow,' or double meridian, glazing system in which the glass panes of the conservatory were angled so as best to catch morning and afternoon light while preventing the scorching of leaves by the direct rays of the noondays sun ...and pulleys in the manner of Venetian blinds to gain a more desirable angle...or to let in fresh air and summer rain showers." (p.317) At Chatsworth, Paxton became chief gardener in 1826 at age 23. He built a great conservatory there, often considered as a prototype for the Crystal Palace. Devonshire wrote that when Paxton arrived at Chatsworth, he found, "...four pine-houses, bad; two vineries, which contained eight bunches of grapes; two good peach houses, and a few cucumber frames. There were no houses at all for plants..." All of this was to change in a very short time and gardens would never again be the same. By the early nineteenth century, tastes were evolving. In his outstanding work, Life in the English Country House, Mark Girouard writes, "The upper- and upper-middle classes had reached the stage of sophistication at which they could react against their own civilization and endeavour to go back to nature. They found nature both in the countryside, preferably in as wild a state as possible, and in man in the countryside, preferably in the supposedly unconstrained, passionate and pure state as presented in the myth or model for the Noble Savage....towards the end of the eighteenth century people began to feel that the main rooms of a house should be in touch with the outside world-not just by views through the windows, although increasing attention was paid to these, but also by means of having the rooms at ground level, with low-silled windows or actual French windows opening straight into the garden or on to the lawn. The rooms thus flowed out in the garden and correspondingly the garden made inroads into the house, in the form of vases and pots of flowers or occupied an entire room in the form of a conservatory attached to the home." (214) The regency era was truly the cusp of dramatic changes in science, technology, manufacture and democratic values. All of these changes can be seen in the very interesting and significant developments in conservatories and greenhouses. The French botanist Jules Charles is attributed by many with the construction of the first really practical greenhouse in 1599 in Holland. The building was used to grow tropical plants for medicinal purposes, such as the Tamarind, used for curative potions. Boston Conservatory - private institution in Boston, Mass. The conservatory was founded in 1867 and grants bachelor's and master's degrees in a variety of performing arts disciplines, including dance, music, opera, theater, voice, instruments, and music education. Students have numerous opportunities to gain performance experience through the conservatory's productions.
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