The pumpkin glasshouse (De Pompoenkas)

The pumpkin glasshouse (De Pompoenkas)

A small glasshouse (1.95 x 1.95 x 1.95m) has been placed in the Hortus botanicus. It is near to the large greenhouses, but still stands separately from them. A single pumpkin is growing in the glasshouse: the Rouge Vif d’Etampes, or Cinderella pumpkin. The glass panes of the glasshouse contain texts with information about the pumpkin, such as how it grows and flowers, pumpkin recipes, the origin of the genus, etc. At the end of the season the pumpkin will proliferate through the glasshouse. It is a glasshouse for a single plant, surrounded by a structure of text, like a three-dimensional picture book. (The Pumpkin glasshouse was included in the collection of Museum De Lakenhal Leiden) In 2020, the Pumpkin Greenhouse was back in the Hortus botanicus in Leiden for another season. Now in the vegetable garden of the Hortus. Two large pumpkins have been harvested from which the chef at the Hortus restaurant has cooked delicious soup.