—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 4,1978
42
Rare plants:
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Staff correspondent
UITTZ - H you are weary of the fading
Christmas plants now withering in your
home and are no longer challenged by
those familiar ferns and philodendrons,
perhaps it is time for you to venture into
the realm of rare and unusual house plants
before Spring Summer schedules
demand your energies.
Oberholtzer Greenhouse in Brickerville,
Lancaster County, has been in the rare
houseplants business for over 10 years.
Mrs. Oberholtzer explained that many
its which were once considered rar
Not so rare after all
extending well below the surface of the
ground outside the greenhouse. Steep,
sloping banks of growing vines and low
growing plants form the walls of the
garden. Included therein are full-sized
banana trees bearing fruit in season. Over
head, suspended from the ceiling are
gigantic hanging baskets filled to over
flowing with unusual greenery. The total
garden area is a tropical valley right in the
heart of Lancaster County.
Mrs. Oberholtzer said the uermanent.
garden serves two purposes. First, it
provides a place for the permanent stock
to grow and propogate new plants for sale.
Second, it allows the customer a chance to
see the plants as they are when mature.
“When some customers buy a small
plant in a pot, they don’t know what it will
look like when it has grown for a few years.
In the garden they can see what its
possibilities are. They can also see how the
plant may be displayed in their home or
what other plants will go with it
Sometimes peopley buy a plant without
any idea what to do with it. In the garden
they can get some ideas,” she added.
On ground level, after the visitor passes
the garden, Oberholtzers also have a
Homestead Notes
cactus display area where several varities
are growing in a desert setting.
In addition to the garden and cacti
settings, the greenhouse complex at
Oberholtzers also contains a section
designated for bonsai garden plants.
Bonsai (pronounced Bone- sai, according
to a sign posted in this section), plants are
miniatures, following oriental styles. Mrs.
Oberholtzer explained that they sell the
small plants which provide the owner
many hours of enjoyment in shaping and
managing.
The atmosphere at the greenhouses
which the Oberholtzers operate is one of