Gary, its hard, but my greenhouse does stay cooler with the swamp cooler going. It also adds humidity (AS IF we need that here in FL in the summer LOL). One of the reasons I am making this change in plantings across the back wall is that currently, with the large stands of heliconia plants I have planted in that space, they tend to slow down the air flow when the fans are sucking the air through the cellulose, and decrease the effectiveness of the cooler. I have a 36 ft expanse, the vent and swamp cooler go across the whole 36 ft. I had an expanse of heliconias (latispatha, Golden Torch, Golden Torch Adrian, Tropica, and Criswick) going all across the back in a solid heliconia grove. Once they topped 8 ft, which was the first year they were planted, the airflow through the vent could no longer come through strong enough to help out the front of the greenhouse (48 feet forward). Especially because the air is also going through all the large growing plantings (heliconias, etlingeras, calatheas etc) in the center space. Even with this drawback, when its 90+ outside, I can keep the interior in the low 80's. The attic heat is another thing, I had to add extra fans at the 12 ft level to help dissipate that heat. (I have a 20 ft gable) My greenhouse is covered in single thickness corrugated clear Lexan. They tried to talk me into the opaque Lexan for heat deflection purposes, but I felt I needed the extra light from the clear. And I did. Everything blooms so well, and things that need more shade or broken light I just plant as understory to the large growing plants. My vandaceous orchids (which make up over 50% of my orchid collection) love the high light in the greenhouse and bloom year round. Its also a "loose" house. There are a lot of little places that outside air can seep in. In winter, to make it more efficient for heat retention, I weatherstrip some of those places to decrease heat leakage. In summer I leave it as open as I can. I lock the sliding door and stuff bubblewarp into crevices and tape it in. I want to change the back of the house to a more manageable, low growing plantscape to help increase air flow, and also I am just tired of what I have and need a place to plant my Licualas, my Pelagodoxa henryiana, and my 2 new Joey Palms! The only heliconia I am leaving is the Criswick, which is just too gorgeous to ax. Its in the corner so its not as obstructive. I have a Rangoon Creeper growing in that corner, and a Thunbergia myesorensis in the opposite corner. I am going to try to make totems for the philos, and also for some broms (little colorful Fireball hybrids like Eoz, Zoe, Superball, etc) I saw some nice alternatives to treefern where they had taken and made a cylinder of stiff chickenwire with a diameter of maybe 4 inches and filled it with orchid bark. This could be bent into any path I want and anchored/wired to the greenhouse walls so that the roots of the plants wouldn't actually attach to the cellulose pad, but they might still get some benefit from the falling water. Getting rid of the high growing plants also opens up a shelf above the cellulose pad that gets full great sun for high light bromeliads like Billbergias that need that light to get their color and markings going.

O.K. Let me rephrase that! I have read on the Growing Spaces forum about some people in the PNW having problems with rain coming in through the open solar vents. I believe that the solution was to have a rain deflector built over the opening. The last that I had time to look, most of the ones located in Oregon were coastal. I'm 30 to 40 miles from the coast as the crow flies. Here is a Google photo link! I'm actually to the right of where they're putting the arrow! The photo isn't really up to date either. I've expanded the ponds and tried to naturalise the watershed back to a more natural state. I've been doing what I can to control erosion! The difference between the basic purpose that they use it for and my needs are the temperature requirements. I don't need to keep it at 80F all winter, but I can't have it dropping below 60F or so. I did originally plan on having a hothouse built inside of a greenhouse from the beginning. That was put on the side for a while and might have to be worked in again. It would be more efficient, as not all of my orchids require constant higher temps. Many of them actually need a variation and/or a seasonal dormancy. I want to have a lot of space. I know how easy it is to outgrow something. I also plan on growing vegetables all winter and will use it to overwinter plants from outside. I have huge pots of lemon grass, citrus, etc. I eat virtually all organic. I was raised that way anyway. I stopped eating all fast food years ago because I got so ill from it. Lately, I have been finding out that there are many things that I'm very allergic to. Virtually everything that has been processed. I always thought that I was sensitive to GM foods. I'm finding out that it's pretty much all glutens and several other common things. The gardens do well all summer, but I want to grow a lot for the winter as well. So, I'm trying to kill as many birds with one stone as possible. One of my primary concerns has also been about earthquakes. I know that it's just a matter of time before we have a big one. I'm not paranoid about them. I've spent my whole life living on the Pacific Ring of Fire around the world. We had a major fire here four years ago. It demonstrated how easily my area would be cut off from the outside. Even the major roads are tenous at best! I like to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Even if nothing happens in my lifetime, I'll have one hell of a greenhouse!:) Scott Here is a link that might be useful: My location

Thanks for the replies. I have included a Photobucket link with some photos. Hopefully this works. If not, I will work on it to fix. The tree is hard to see in some pics due to background greenery, but in other photos, against the sky, it is obvious. There is about a 3' branch hanging just over the top of the fence. The yard is a mess as we are killing and removing everything for new landscaping (which may be influenced by the presence of this oak). But, it gives you some idea of the area the oak could shade. The dirt shown is where I had hoped to plant a lawn. Our house is about 37' away from the fence (to the right, when pic is shot down the fence line). Perhaps the oak may provide some benefit. The oak is somewhat downwind of a much bigger pine tree, which drops debris in our yard. One long branch of the oak has already made contact with the limbs of the pine. Wonder who wins that battle. http://s832.photobucket.com/user/PhilJr/slideshow/Valley Oak I-emailed the owner Monday and no response, but will knock on the door, and even offer to have someone else take it down, and if they want, I will buy another more suitable tree to replace it. One other thing. I don't think we will be here longer than 8 - 10 years. How big will this oak be in that time? How old does the oak look now. About 17' feet tall, and maybe 15' wide. I can prune the oak on my side, but once it grows tall enough, I won't be able to reach it, and then what? Thank you. Phil Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket Pics This post was edited by Phil3 on Thu, Apr 17, 14 at 15:17

Well, Kathy, this time your package arrived MUCH FASTER! I have to say I was mislead by the weight of the box, thinking, there couldn't be much in there, LOL!!! Of course, the kids were trying to claim everything I pulled out of there. So here's what was in my Easter basket: Easter window decoration - yep, they took that one Easter egg candles - yeah, that one too, LOL Shamrock ornament - uh, huh, you guessed it Garden gloves - I had to draw the line there, too big for them anyway Floral blank notes cards Sharpie permanent marker - perfect for labeling my wintersowing containers! Garden windchimes - The kids are still trying to talk me out of these! Before I list the seeds, I just want to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to type of all of the information on everything you sent, Kathy. That is so helpful! Lime Basil Dark Opal Basil German Chamomile Victoria Rhubarb - I can't wait to try this one! Purple Tomatillo - won't that make the coolest looking salsa? Tomatillo - org Jimmy Nardello Italian Sweet Pepper - Yeah, can't wait to grow this one! Yellow Star Hot Pepper - B.C. sent me the same one with your order, LOL Radish 'Violet De Gourney' Rapini - okay I'm going to have to look this one up, can't believe you found a veggie that I'm not familiar with : ) Thai Yellow Egg Eggplant Strawberry Spinach - also new to me Tomatoes - Egg, Early Girl, Mountain Princess (I have 80 different kinds of tomatoes, and you sent me three I didn't have, Yippee!) Muskmelon, Little Sweetie Sunflower, Dwarf Sunspot - Think I'll let the kids plant this one Kabloona Calendula - sounds very pretty Thai Red Roselle - sounds beautiful, going to have to look this one up too! What a awesome variety of seeds!!! Kathy, thank you so much for everything you picked out for me. I love it ALL!!! Bonnie