Terrariums

Last summer one of my gardening buddies gave me a book for my birthday:

(the author is Tovah Martin since I've so thoughtfully blocked the name)  At the time, I remember doing little more than flipping thru the pages and thinking how beautiful all the different assemblages were ~ something about putting an ordinary item under glass turns it into something extraordinary.  Know what I mean???  Anyway, after sufficiently admiring the photos the book was shelved until recently when I pulled it back out again.  This time with the intent of creating my own masterpiece under glass.  ha.  I started with one Primula acaulis:

(or grocery store variety primula), some cool spring doo-dads to dress up the outside of the apothecary jar:

and one "Grow" pick (to dress up the inside of the jar ~ like the primula wasn't enough!):

Combined them all together:

 

and plopped on the lid:

Pretty sweet, don't you think?  At least for now.  I wonder how long the Primula will stay looking good under glass??  That's the problem I have with cloches, apothecary jars, terrariums, etc., ~ finding the right plant that can take all that moisture.  Maybe I'll just keep it under there until it starts looking stressed then create a completely new assemblage.  That's the one good thing about this time of year, there's time to play with little things like this while the garden is still sleeping.

Comments

[Shady Gardener]

I'll watch to see how this works... from experiences I've had with terrariums in the past, the leaves don't like to touch the wet sides of the glass container. You've done a lovely job, though, Kathleen (as usual!) ;-) Have a great weekend.

[Janet]

Looks great now that is for sure!!

[Catherine]

I love terrariums. The nursery near us had some really pretty ones put together.
The primrose looks really pretty, they usually like it moist. As usual you've made it extra nice with your creative touches!

[tina]

It looks sweet. I've always loved terrariums and I think they are coming back judging by the number of glass ones you find at second hand and antique stores. The primrose is a cheery spring color!

[Cinj]

I've been thinking about making my daughter's 10 gallon fish tank into a terrarium, they're just so neat. I think I need to look for a book like that to see if my idea is doable...

[Lauren]

Beautiful terrarium! I would be interested to hear how the primula fairs in the terrarium environment- the shay gardener is right- foliage should not be allowed to rest on the glass walls.

For all things terrariums:
http://www.thefernandmossery.com/