Judy's Jungle Goes Under Wraps....

I have wrap-around porches all of which are full of plants, below is a picture of one of them, from the inside and the next picture was taken from outside of the same porch.

From the outside... the decision has been made to enclose at least two porches to winter-over the plants. My plan is to take pictures as we go so you can see how it is done, if there is any interest.

Judy

Oops forgot to attached the picture......

This is a link to pictures of all the porches. This house was designed and built by my DH for me and my (((plants)))) and it's perfect for both!!



This message was edited Dec 1, 2004 8:02 AM

i will be watching!!!!!!! :)

What a great site you have..and what great looking plants...thanks for sharing.

Kris

I will definitely be watching, I have been wondering how you might cram all of your gorgeous, most numerous plants back into the house. You simply " wrap the house"....

History: At first, Judy and I would drag/tote/carry the plants inside for the winter but this led to a claustrophobic feeling to say the least. The next year, we moved the best plants inside and the rest we co-located with the dogs in their house. The mice wintered in the pots and dined on roots... The next two years, I stretched clear plastic around the back (west) and side (south) porches and heated the areas with electric heaters. I used 1x2s to anchor each plastic edge to the house. This was labor intensive each fall and spring. So this year, I plan to build "panels" from 2x2s and vinyl and mount those to the porch and when spring comes, take them down and store them for the next winter... that's the plan.

The photo is the south porch. The goal is to mount the panels on the outside of the porch so that the hanging plants can winter where they are.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2004 3:26 PM

This photo shows that the south porch has been cleared of the table and chairs and shelving with the army surplus tent floor in place. Our porch floor is regular decking with normal gaps between the boards for air and moisture control and not very good at holding heat. The tent floor covering eliminates the air flow and offers some degree of insulation.
I'm in the background moving an antique storage chest.

The first plastic panel can be seen on the left. It is 8 foot wide and 8 foot high and made of 7 2x2s (one on top, one on bottom and verticals every 2 feet. White plastic (6 mil) is on the outside and clear plastic (3 mil) is on the inside anchored to the 2x2s with staples. To aid the staples in holding the plastic and not ripping through, I used greenhouse batten tape from Morton Products. http://www.mortonproducts.com/page.cfm/1479 Batten tape is white a vinyl strip 3/4 " wide and 1/32" thick.

The first panel attached. Flooring in place on the south porch.

Dear Judy
What a beautiful vision - great porches- so many thriving contented plants. I could not get over the Christmas cactuses and begonias. You've really created something amazing ! Thanks for the photos- really really wonderful! r.ivory

Thanks you all for the positive feedback. We've been working but not on the porches today. Tomorrow hopefully we will get lots done.... the temps are certainly going to drop this weekend.

Judy

judy & big daddy, what a wonderful place you have. you look like you live deep in the woods. i'm green with envy.

Yes we live deep in the woods so all our critters can roam free. Thank you for your compliments.

Judy

Judy and Big Daddy, what a wonderful setup you have there. Judy you are so lucky to have a Big Daddy who is very able and willing to help you and your plants get set for winter. Went to your hyperlink, you have a great many beautifu; p[ants. You must not have to water all your hanging plants once or twice a day during the summer. it is so hot and dry here that I don't have a whole lot of plants in hanging pots, just can't keep them wet enough. .Donna

During the hottest part of the summer I have to water the hanging plants every day, but it's only for about a month. That's were the porches are so neat, I just walk around with a water wand on the end of my hose and soak them all down good after the sun goes down, not worrying about spilled water, it run right off the porch.

Lovely Judy, I love porches.

Very cool looking! Love it!!!

Shelf space is a priority -- and some plants such as this Christmas Cactus are unable to sit on a shelf and must be hung. Judy suggested that we have as many "hanging rods" as we can. A hanging rod is actually a grounding rod and is suspended from ceiling hooks and chains.

Just wonderful pictures!
I knew I had seen pictures of your house before!
I forgot I saw them on your webpage. We looked at it again
tonight!

Wow Judy thats some house and i would almost kill for those porches
and in the country to.

You are one lucky lady, Judy! Your home and plants are LOVELY! And having a DH that is so supportive of your hobby......PRICELESS!

Thanks everyone.... more pictures hopefully later today. It's not finished yet, poor BigDaddy has had so much to do.

Judy

The South Porch with all of the panels in place. The porch posts are not the same distance apart so the last three panels to the right were adjusted to fit. The first really cold night came when just these panels were up so we hung a plastic "drape" to keep the heat in. Judy is leaving the drapes and wants to 'zone' the porch into different temperature ranges...

The South-East corner showing the panels anchored to the corner porch post.

The East porch panels in place. The East porch is the front of the house. The front doors open into the inside of the enclosed porch and we leave them open to equalize the temperature. Judy moved most of her plants and birds. Now she would like me to start on the new greenhouse or potting shed or plow up the garden area... I'm trying to talk her into a Buckminster Fuller dome for her next plant-a-tarium...

This message was edited Dec 4, 2004 7:13 PM

The cockatiels were moved to one larger cage instead of the individual pair cages. They are getting along better than expected but seem to jockey for position when Judy stops and talks to them...

I can't begin to express to you how nice it is to have my "greenhouse" all around me. I just walk out the front door which is open much of the time and I'm in the mist of all my plants. I'm not finished arranging them but I'm working on it!!

I've decided I want a greenhouse that is a replica of the house!!!

More pictures later.....

Judy



This message was edited Dec 7, 2004 8:41 AM

Very cool you two, I'll have to remember that If my icky porch is ever torn down and replaced with a new one (its on my forever Christmas list) ! Do you have a south facing wall? If so does it sometimes get warm enough to let marm moist air into the house?

We circulated the warn air into the house by using a box fan in one of the windows and opening the front door. Also it can get too HOT therefore we wait until the last minute to put up the plastic, just before the first killing frost. Most of my plants can take the cold as long as they don't freeze. When it gets too warm I turn on the porch ceiling fans and/or use the attic fan.

judy that looks wonderful and warm!!! great job!

What a great place to over-winter (both you and the plants).

Judy,
I must be missing something because I can't find your link! Beautiful home and plants.
Terrie

Judy, you can always bring your beautiful plants by this way for the Winter, lol!!! Annie

Right about now, I would love to load them all on a truck and send them your way!!! lol lol

I'll have to take pictures once everything is arranged. I had to just throw the plants on the porches in piles. Today we installed more rods, suspended from the ceiling, upon which to hang the "baskets". I'll also have to count to see how many hanging baskets I have. I'm guessing 150 - 175 although I gave away a large number this summer: friends, neighbors, repairmen, UPS driver, bank tellers, etc. Everyone who visits says, WOW so I send them home with one or more if they want.

I'm waiting to see how cold the porches are going to get before I move the more sensitive plants out of the house.

Watering is going to be a major chore unless I can come up with a good plan. Although the "tent flooring" is water proof, the water can't be allowed to spill on them for obvious reasons.

Judy

Judy. . .what a great idea you two came up with. I'm sure your plants are as comfy as can be. . .that was really alot of work, but only once. . .then just taking it up and down. Your place is beautiful. ;-D Janet

I just wanted you to know I love your house and porch.What a great idea.I'm thinking of doing the same to my front porch.Jody

Judy,
I love the idea of making panels.

Many Thanks to your DH.

I will use this on my front porch.

thanks for sharing your project, this is wonderfull, to late for us we lost almost 100 plants to cool and frost (we had frost for almost 7 days continues ) unusual in this part of California (zone9) but I will be ready for nex winter. we have a similar cover patio, my husband will have to start soon.
thanks again .

sylvia and hong

Judy and Big Daddy, great pictures. What a great way to utilize your wrap around porch. Judy you are so fortunate to be able to just step into this slice of plant heaven. Thanks for sharing.

Our low temperature last night was 27. We were up and down all night checking the temperature in Judy's Jungle. The lowest it got was 43 using two small electric space heaters with the thermostats on low. We're just wanting the plants to survive the winter therefore aren't trying for a "hot house" environment.

The low forecasted for tonight is 13 so I may end up bringing the cockatiels (small parrots) and tender plants into the house.