Ode to the Orangery
The Orangery, Palace of Versaille, ca.1684-1686 (photo courtesy of Palace of Versaille)
Orangery; that’s fun to say. Why isn’t everyone finding a reason to say “orangery?” Or, better yet, building one, right this very minute?
Orangery: noun or·ange·ry \ ˈär-inj-rē : a protected place and especially a greenhouse for growing oranges in cool climates
See? Fun. And garden-y, so, win/win.
An orangery (also orangerie) is a 16th Century European interpretation of a greenhouse. A conservatory, more accurately, but with less glass. Orangeries were born out of necessity. Hailing from warmer climes, oranges, and other citrus, required protection in the European winter. Practical gardeners built crude plank and sack tent-like structures, and later, better insulated buildings, in which to house delicate oranges. Utilizing advances in Italian glassmaking technology, Europeans availed themselves of glass in sheets and made windows; lots and lots of windows. Brick or stone for insulation, plus a wall of south-facing windows, was just what the tropics ordered. Et, voilà: the orangery.
If necessity is the mother of invention, pride, it might be said, is the mother of beauty. To wit:
Surrounded, as they were, with classical architecture, Europeans promptly poo-pooed unrefined sack tents and such. All of Europe began, straightaway, constructing progressively more elaborate orangeries, designing them to compliment the architecture of their estates; thanking the Italians, no doubt, for the tons of window glass.
L'Orangerie à Chateau De Cheverny, Loire Valley, France (photo courtesy of Loire Daily Photo)
The English were particularly smitten with the orangery. By the 19th Century, no English estate was complete without one. Bonus: the extended growing season provided by insulation and windows meant that more and more species of plants would thrive there. They were no longer just a haven for tropical fruit. Orangeries housed a myriad, a collection, of vegetation. People toured them like art galleries.
The Orangery at Kensington Palace, ca. 1704, now a restaurant (Courtesy of orangerykensringtonpalace.co.uk)
The orangery harkens back to a time of merchant ships and maiden voyages; miraculous returns; ships laden with exotic treasures. In16th century Europe, an orange tree, or a banana, or a lime, must have been an absolute marvel. How fitting, then, to preserve such treasures in something so beautiful, so timeless. The orangery: an homage to horticulture.
I fell in love with the orangery - the name and the concept - at the Burden Museum and Gardens in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I said the word “orangery” over and over. I tend to pronounce it with a soft “ghe” sound in the middle. Orn-ghe-rie. I suspect it’s more French, and therefore unpronounceable. However you say it, say it a lot. Orangeries - beautiful, functional, and timeless - are a part of horticultural and architectural history. Ode, indeed, to the orangery.
Orangerie (sic) at Burden Museum Botanic Gardens, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (photo courtesy of LSU AG Center)