Tooele man creates his own tropical paradise

If you are longing to get away from winter but don't have access to a tropical paradise, there is another way. One Tooele County family thinks their greenhouse gives them the perfect getaway.

Jerry Worsencroft and his wife Sharon are enjoying greenhouse No. 3. As I visited with Jerry and his daughter Jennie, it is easy to see why they enjoy it so much. While seated on some comfortable furniture inside we were surrounded by many tropical plants in flower and fruit.

I asked Jerry how he got into designing and building greenhouses. He credits his grandfather.

"I am like my grandpa. He had a little hotbed, the kind people used to have before there were stores that sold lots of plants. He liked to grow stuff there and I take after him. I like to grow things that you don't see everywhere. I go for the unusual."

It was easy to see that he does favor the unusual. As I looked around his greenhouse I saw banana trees with fruit on them, dwarf Hass avocados, lemons, limes, Meyer lemons, and Fremont tangerines. In addition to these fruits he had many others.

He rattled off the names of other favorites. "Over here is a loquat. Don't know if it will fruit inside this greenhouse or not. This pineapple plant is one we started from the pineapple top of the fruit we bought at the grocery store.

"All of the coleus plants are ones that my daughter Jennie started from seeds. They've grown very large and have many different colors. The banana tree with the fruit on it is special to us because we brought it here from Arkansas when we moved here.

"I got that banana tree when I was in high school. It has been in all three of our greenhouses and is still growing well. This other banana is not nearly as happy. It was getting too cold so I have wrapped it with Christmas lights and put insulation over the roots to keep it warmer."

Few of us could claim to have kept any plant alive through numerous moves over several decades but Jerry has a special love of plants. Other specimens including bougainvillea, dracaena, sansevieria and many others populate his indoor paradise.

His first greenhouse was attached to his home when he lived in Draper. It collected the heat and they used it to help heat their home. When they moved to Tooele County they built a dugout, earth sheltered greenhouse and used that for a few years.

"It started to deteriorate so I decided I needed to fix it up," Jerry said. "I wanted something a little larger and more attractive with more growing space."