The Enchanted Greenhouse

Yarrow’s relatives need to repair their old cottages, so Terlu invites them to stay in Laiken’s study for the time being. At the tower, the new arrivals’ meeting with the sentient plants is joyful because many of the adult gardeners were friends with Dendy and the others. Yarrow’s father, Birch, confides to Terlu that he advised his family not to inform Yarrow that they were all coming out of fear that he might revoke his invitation. Birch tried to force his son to leave the island with him because he believed that the greenhouse was doomed, which explains why Yarrow is especially angry towards him. Terlu anxiously hopes that she made the right decision in writing to Yarrow’s family.

Terlu finds Yarrow alone in his cottage and encourages him to give his relatives a chance. He dislikes that things are changing and asks her if she’ll continue repairing the greenhouse’s magic. When she voices her fear of being punished, he declares that he’ll stand by her even if that means being turned into a statue with her. That night, they cuddle in bed at Yarrow’s suggestion.

Early the next morning, Yarrow bakes several batches of honey cakes and asks Terlu to deliver them to his relatives. He hasn’t slept or eaten due to the stress he’s under. When she invites him to talk about his feelings, he tells Terlu that his uncle Rorick left him alone in the caves under the greenhouse for three days when he was nine years old. His uncle intended for the experience to teach the young Yarrow to be more independent, but it left him with a lifelong fear of caves and mazes. In addition, the traumatic experience damaged his trust in his father, who didn’t come for him because he “had work to do” (253).

When Terlu delivers the honey cakes to Yarrow’s family, Rowan reveals that Laiken’s ghost haunts his bedroom. The ghost is unable to speak and fills the space with his strong, lingering sadness. Rowan left the island about five years ago to help her aunt and uncle with their florist shop and to attend university, which is where she met her wife, Ambrel. Over the years, Rowan sent her brother many letters entreating him to join her in Alyssium, but he never replied.

Rowan leads Terlu and Ambrel to a greenhouse full of dream flowers, which show the person who picks the blossoms any vision they request. Terlu doesn’t ask the flower to show her a dream because she realizes that what she truly wants is to be with Yarrow.

Terlu finds Yarrow working by himself in a greenhouse filled with bonsai trees and tells him about the dream flowers. He shows her more of the complex’s marvels, including a room filled with bioluminescent flowers that shine and move around like shooting stars and a room that contains a “slice of sea” complete with a kelp forest, fish, and coral (276). Awed by the ocean room’s beauty, Yarrow says, “You see why I couldn’t leave Belde? [….] There are wonders through every door” (269). Terlu is ecstatic when she sees a friendly turtle in the ocean room, and swimming with it reminds her of her happy childhood in Eano. After her swim, Terlu notices Yarrow gazing at her drenched form with desire. She confesses that she likes him, and he kisses her.

Yarrow doesn’t understand why anyone would like him, so he worries that Terlu’s feelings for him stem from gratitude or pity. She counters that neither of them have to be “lonely and unhappy forever” despite their previous issues with trauma and abandonment (274). Their conversation leads them both to resolve to reconnect with their families. When Terlu offers to try the bubble spell again, Yarrow says that she doesn’t need to rush to work magic if she’s not comfortable doing so around his family yet: “You’re more important than any greenhouse” (275). Speechless, she takes his hand.

Yarrow and Terlu return to the lost greenhouse where she previously attempted the bubble spell. This time, she accidentally traps the two of them in a bubble so impenetrable that not even air can pass through. She releases the spell by burning the ingredients she used to cast it. Terrified that her magical experiment nearly ended “the life of the person [she] loved” (284), Terlu says that she should stop using magic. Yarrow comforts her and convinces her not to give up.

The next morning, Terlu feels at home as she helps Yarrow prepare honey cakes. When she delivers the cakes, Rowan and Ambrel express their hope that Belde might one day become a home for other refugees from Alyssium. Rowan wants to talk to her brother, but Ambrel and Terlu ask her to wait until Yarrow is ready.

Terlu goes upstairs to the sorcerer’s bedroom and asks Laiken’s ghost to help her save the greenhouse. She considers bringing the sorcerer’s notes to his old room but is prevented by the arrival of Dendy. The sentient rhododendron tells her that another greenhouse is dying.

The failing greenhouse is full of singing plants, and Yarrow, his relatives, and the sentient plants cooperate to carry most of them to safety. Terlu discovers that the damage to the greenhouse originated with its foundation. When Lotti warns everyone that frost is beginning to spread, Yarrow orders everyone to evacuate. Birch is the last to flee, which angers Yarrow. Birch explains, “I left before. I’m not going to do it again” (299). The elder gardener believes a rival sorcerer is deliberately causing the greenhouse’s magic to fail.

Terlu asks Lotti, Yarrow, and Birch to come to the tower with her and speak to Laiken’s ghost. Birch angers the spirit by saying that the sorcerer never loved his daughter or the greenhouse and only cared about power and control. Lotti beseeches Laiken to help save her and her fellow plants, and the bond between the sorcerer and his creation allows them to communicate. By asking yes or no questions, Terlu and the others determine that the greenhouses are failing due to a malfunctioning spell that Laiken cast shortly before his death. Birch asks if Terlu is a sorcerer but doesn’t ask any further questions when Yarrow answers simply that she’s amazing. Yarrow kisses her, and Terlu feels strong enough to “climb mountains, swim oceans, and definitely and absolutely save the Greenhouse of Belde” (305).