When it gets especially freezy out, I like to escape to a local greenhouse for a bit of warm, green humidity. So I recently made a getaway to the Lyman Estate Greenhouses in Waltham.
The estate was created by Theodore Lyman, funded with a fortune he amassed through shipping—with interests ranging from the Northwest fur trade to the China trade—and marriage. Lyman bought up small farms that he turned into his estate, crowned by a federal style house that he built in 1793 based on designs by Salem’s Samuel McIntire. By the time of Lyman’s death in 1839, the grounds encompassed 400 acres. Today, the National Historic Landmark property is 37 acres and operated by Historic New England.
Lyman build his first greenhouse there in 1804—the three-section grape house to grow citrus, figs, pineapples, bananas, and forced native fruits. It was expanded with the 1820 camellia house and an 1840 greenhouse connecting the two. The greenhouses are open Tuesdays to Saturdays, admission is free.
Some other greenhouses to check out:
• Courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
• Global Flora conservatory at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Free.
• Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence.
• Conservatories at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts.
• Lyman Plant House and Conservatory at The Botanic Garden of Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Free.
• Durfee Conservatory and Morrill greenhouses at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Free (I think).
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