Garden Guru: Rooms with a view

Garden rooms allow you to enjoy the outdoors on winter days. Photo / Supplied

Whether you call it a conservatory, garden room or sun lounge, a light and airy extension is the perfect way of marrying inside and out and - on a blustery winter's day - there's no better way to feel you are outside when you are in fact still snugly indoors sniffing the flowers while eating, watching TV or sitting at the laptop.

Conservatories have come a long way from the days when they were little more than a greenhouse tacked on beyond the French doors. And whether they are made almost entirely of glass or have a plastered roof with skylights and are simply endowed with plenty of windows, the best designs combine useful extra space with the chance to play with exotic plants on a scale far removed from the old African violet perched on the kitchen windowsill.

Yet often conservatories become a disaster - too small or too hot for both entertaining and growing plants, they can all too easily descend into nothing more than a glorified dumping ground for squeaky cane furniture, bikes and a few sad old succulents clinging to life.

Careful positioning and plentiful, flexible ventilation and screening are essential from the outset. A south-facing aspect that will be shaded for much of the day is preferable to any northern aspect and, if the roof is glazed in opaque glass or plastic and you invest in quality blinds, you will be able to keep the heat down in summer whilst trapping it in winter.

The size of a garden room is another important factor. If you are really serious about bringing the feel of the garden indoors, you will need to make space for a good number of planters and containers and still have floor space left for whatever you plan to use the room for primarily.

Built-in planters need complicated drainage, but containers on saucers allow you much greater flexibility if you alter the room's use with time. Incorporate wide windowsills, shelves and brackets to display plants at various heights and provide a variety of microclimates.

Planting works best when it echoes the garden beyond, making that all-important link between indoors and out, so if you are going all jungly inside, try a tough but elegant palm like Phoenix roebelenii, which copes with bright light - and plant a cluster outside as well.

Most easily grown garden plants have a luscious member of the family that is just too delicate to thrive outside and these are the species to plump for. For example, the most exotic alocasia is amazonica, with white ribs set off against dark shield leaves. It's comparatively easy to grow indoors. A few heliconias and cane-stem begonias will similarly survive outdoors, but there are many more which, being truly tropical, need just that bit more heat and a winter without cold, wet feet.

So many plants grow outside in our climate that you might question bringing them in under glass at all, but often when they are protected not just from cold but from gales, too, the tropical sorts really thrive just as other plants are having their dormant period. Good examples are dracaenas and the bold paddles of dieffenbachia, which are only borderline hardy. They limp along even in mild gardens but provide the ideal lush and exotic look under glass.

After providing a backbone of foliage, you can think about flowers and scent. In winter, orchids are the perfect choice. Go for easy types in the genus cymbidium and phalaenopsis, plus the arum-like hoods of peace lily (Spathiphyllum) and brighter anthuriums. Streptocarpus are the conservatory version of primulas. They are easy to grow and flower for months, but it's worth squeezing in some bulbs, too, for bringing on early and adding a bright freshness you just can't achieve with permanent planting.

Hyacinths take advantage of the amplifying effect an indoor room has by filling it with their scent, but other plants like aromatic pelargoniums and sweet-smelling citrus or climbing stephanotis will scent the air at other times of the year, making you want to linger that bit longer under glass while another downpour sets in outside.

Could do this week

* Indoor plants are generally semi-dormant in winter, so don't feed them and barely water. Instead pick off dying and diseased foliage.

* Dust glossy indoor plants to keep them looking fresh - especially smooth leaves, such as those of giant figs, which can be finished with a plant polish to give them a waxy shine.

* Put plants like African violet and begonias, which don't like too much humidity, up high in the conservatory whose air is dryer.

* Save on heating bills by choosing Mediterranean plants for indoors, as they cope better with low temperatures than subtropicals.