Gardening in January: Terrariums!!

It's the middle of winter and baby it's cold outside!

An African violet adds color- look Mom, no top!

Inside the greenhouse with the terrarium plants on display.

January 8th, Auraca - our local herb group - met at Michaleen's Florist and Garden Center for a talk on creating terrariums.

Barb, our Michaleen's hostess, showed our group what terrariums are, what is needed to create one and how to care for them. It was fascinating! And as an added bonus, we sat in a greenhouse in January! Plants were blooming all around us ~ an orange tree, scented geraniums, the smells ~ it was heaven!

Bathroom Martini Terrarium

Terrariums are no longer the science projects we created back in the 1960's and 1970's. Lucky for us, the definition seems to have morphed into a free-for-all involving small plants and glass containers.

Size? Whatever you want.
Tops? Optional.
Round? Sure but square, birdhouse shaped, and domed are also options.
Heck, you can even grow a bonsai in one!
Zombies, fairies, bridges, arbors, rocks: you can put whatever keepsakes you want into your mini-garden to create a theme.

Talk about liberating!!!

Here's the recipe:

• Glass container
• Decorative Gravel
• Moss
• Soil
• a selection of plants which can be pruned to stay small or grow slowly
• Fun little items to add character to your garden ~ cool rocks, tiny buildings, arbors, tiny people or animals

Geraniums at Michaleen's - Gorgeous!

Here's how:

• Put about 1" of gravel in the bottom of your glass container for drainage.
• Line the side of the container with a layer of moss, about 1" tall, give or take.
• Arrange your plant (s) and fun items in the center to be sure they fit.
• Trim back your plants as needed.
• Add some soil and plant your plants in the middle of the container.
• Top the soil with either decorative gravel or more moss ~ your choice.
• Lightly water and you are done. 

General rules:

• Use plants that are small in scale and grow slowly
• Don't over water your terrarium
• Don't let the plants touch the sides 
• Prune the plants regularly to keep them small 
• Select plants of similar light and water needs for your terrarium.  A cactus won't like living with an African violet!!

I never used this Pyrex for cooking, so what the heck!  Perfect on our dining room table

That's about it. Let your creativity go wild on these cold, gray winter days!

Michaleen's periodically holds classes on making terrariums.  It's just plain fun ~ especially in the dead of winter when we all need a shot of "PLANT" to feed our gardening needs.  

My daughter's garden bench terrarium with garnets collected in the Adirondacks