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Paradise Under Glass: The Education of an Indoor Gardener Kindle Edition

by Ruth Kassinger (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 62 ratings
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Paradise Under Glass is a witty and absorbing memoir about one woman’s unlikely desire to build, stock, and tend a small conservatory in her suburban Maryland home. Ruth Kassinger’s wonderful story of the unique way she chose to cope with the profound changes in her life—a book that will delight readers of Eat, Pray, Love and I Feel Bad About My Neck—is interwoven with the fascinating history of conservatories from the Renaissance orangeries to the glass palaces of Kew.

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  1. Print length
    372 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    HarperCollins e-books
  5. Publication date
    April 2, 2010
  6. File size
    6962 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a bout with cancer, the loss of a beloved sister to a brain tumor, and the onset of an empty nest, science and health writer Kassinger, inspired by Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Palm House, decided that a conservatory (or more prosaically, sunroom) would be the perfect antidote to the losses and changes of middle age. The book vividly chronicles her initiation into the world of indoor gardening as well as the fascinating and unlikely histories of greenhouses and the flamboyant gardens they have housed, from 15th-century windowless arancieras built to winter orange trees to the Industrial Age, glass-and-iron 18-acre Crystal Palace. The characters Kassinger encounters, literarily and in the flesh, are as quirky as their plants. Michel Adanson, the first botanist to go on a collecting venture in equatorial Africa, declared the country 'delicious' in all ways, despite facing lions, tigers, wild boars, huge 'serpents,' masses of mosquitoes, and red ants that blistered him all over. Breadfruit trees collected by David Nelson, a quiet and unassuming botanist, may have been responsible for Captain Bligh's Bounty mutiny. Tom Winn and Ken Frieling, whose Glasshouse Works is housed in a remote Ohio former hotel, now old-age home, reject growing marketable plants like poinsettias in favor of having fun. Kassinger's lush writing and exotic stories will delight the armchair gardener and historian. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but they should grow plants. At least that’s what brown-thumbed gardener Kassinger thought when she decided to convert the deck area of her suburban Maryland home into a garden conservatory worthy of Victorian England. After having successfully jerry-rigged a hothouse setup with plastic sheeting and, yes, duct tape, Kassinger experienced the heady joy of not killing the meager plants she had installed there. “I can do this,” she thought, and, in the difficult wake of her sister’s premature death from brain cancer and her own bout of breast cancer, she proceeded to do it in a big way. Seamlessly blending her extensive research on the history of conservatories and plant exploration with her own personal anecdotes of raising everything from butterflies to Boston ferns, Kassinger’s personal odyssey into the crystalline world of gardening under glass offers an uplifting and instructional message. --Carol Haggas

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003F1WMFW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (April 2, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 2, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6962 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 372 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0061547743
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 62 ratings

About the author

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Ruth Kassinger

Ruth Kassinger

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I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and, after graduating from Yale and Johns Hopkins, moved to the Washington, DC area. I've written three books for an adult audience (Slime, A Garden of Marvels, and Paradise Under Glass) and seven books for young adults, including hands-on science books titled Reinvent the Wheel and Build a Better Mousetrap. My articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe, among others. You can hear me in interviews at Science Friday on NPR, WICN, and other radio shows and podcasts.

I currently live in Bethesda, Maryland with my husband.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
62 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fabulous Book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It presents solid research in a chatty, informal tone that is inviting and friendly. An account of the author's creation of a greenhouse room in her home--despite her lifelong history of indifference to plants and gardening--is interwoven with a history of the evolution of conservatories. Sound dull? Not at all! It's fascinating. Through history, people have risked great hardship, limb, and life itself to collect plants (initially for their medicinal properties) in hostile environments far from home. Conservatories have come a very long way from windowless buildings heated with smoky fires to magical places that create thriving tropical landscapes in the dead of frigid winter weather. Equally interesting is the author's account of commercial greenhouses that grow plants on a massive scale and can generate a huge crop from a single cloned leaf cell. This is a delightful, highly informative book that serves up lots of adventure in far flung places. You don't even have to be a plant lover to love this book. I recommend it highly.
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Angela
5.0 out of 5 stars Wish it focused a touch more on her personal conservatory
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2017
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Every once in a while I feel the urge to read a "garden story". I really enjoyed Kassinger's other book about plants - she has a lively style and her research and interviews are interesting to read - going into details I didn't know I wanted until I read them. The real charm of this story though, is when she talks about her conservatory. I don't know what would be considered to be a spoiler for this kind of book, but I'll say at one point I was so charmed by a new addition to her conservatory I actually clapped in real life with excitement.
I feel like I learned a few things and found fuel to help me follow through on my own garden.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A unique perspective!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2016
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I enjoyed this book as it ranged far and wide geographically, historically, and personally for the author. Her trial and error experiences were informative and a historical context of green house evolution was extensive. Her passion to research and visit so many plant sources was impressive and put the entire industry in a new light for me. This may not be to everyone's taste, but if your passions cross at all with hers, there is much to be learned and enjoyed!
2 people found this helpful
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Rosemary Lunardini
5.0 out of 5 stars and especially the very reason she began to love, learn about
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2017
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This is a lively look at how a woman who typically killed plants became an extraordinary indoor gardener of tropical plants by building a conservatory in her home. Along the way, we share in her hunt for exotic plants (and in the history of the early horticulturists and adventurers who did the same, bringing them home in ships); her experience in designing the conservatory, which became a focal part of the author's life shared with friends and family; and especially the very reason she began to love, learn about, and care for plants.
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Mick
5.0 out of 5 stars A Literary Oasis.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2016
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I had been reading one mystery novel after the other and needed a break from them. I picked this one because the author wanted to set up her own exotic garden and that sounded interesting. I quickly found that the book covered much more than gardening and was full of many anecdotes and stories that were very interesting and enjoyable to read. I could also share the author's cancer experiences.
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Ceylan Orhun
5.0 out of 5 stars Written with passion!
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2013
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It is a delightful book on indoor gardening!
Adventurous personal memoir and a pleasant dose of historical knowledge on indoor gardening.
Useful information on nurseries in the USA.
Last but not least most eloquently written book which is hard to let it stand for days before picked up again. A book that one does not want it to finish. I enjoyed reading it so much that I am giving it to gardening enthusiast friends as a present.
3 people found this helpful
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Woodley6
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a good book to read before you start your home conservatory
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2015
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This is a good book to read before you start your home conservatory. She jumped right in, and there were successes and some failures. Kassinger gives specifics of where to get your plants, what worked and what didn't. It's a quick read, and it's fun even for those of us who are not and never will be gardeners, but it's a must for those getting ready to embark on a similar journey.
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Robert P. Sala
5.0 out of 5 stars Read before you construct your conservatory
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014
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Very enjoyable book not only for those passionate about plants. Ms. Kassinger has an engaging writing style that will draw anyone in. In this book she alternates between her personal story and the history of greenhouses as they relate to that personal story. One learns quite a bit about horticultural history through this work.
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Top reviews from other countries

EV
4.0 out of 5 stars How a conservatory can change your life!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
There aren't many books about conservatories out there but I was on the hunt for some inspiration. This book is a very pleasant read, as well as covering a history of growing plants under glass in increasingly extravagant structures, the author also describes her own attempts at creating a personal haven in her home. Her fantasy conservatory isn't mine ( I would love to own a mini-eden complete with fish and even tropical frogs) but I enjoyed her descriptions of researching how to keep suitable plants alive and even introducing butterflies to animate the room. I love the fact that Ruth K installed an endless pool in her conservatory so she could swim at home. The action is set in the United States but the story is of interest to anyone who feels inspired to bring life into their home.
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