Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Terrarium Fun



A past "TO DO" I felt worth sharing. One of my summer projects at work (a McKee and Company Interior Design and Fine Furniture) was to design and plant these adorable moss covered terra cotta terrariums. The idea in and of itself was great. "Things" (as my boss likes to put it) like this set our store apart from all the other chatchka (sp?) out there. So I read a little about the concept and drove to Costa Mesa to select the species that liked a lot of water and not very much sunlight (we're using them inside.) 


The first round I bought a maiden hair fern  (see above) and paired it with a little button fern, added some moss and preserved lichen and called it a day. It was surprisingly easy to assemble and didn't require a skilled eye for design. I have now attempted 3 rounds of terrarium plantings and failed miserably at all three.  I even tried orchids, despite rumors of their fickle temperament... Surprise Surprise.. those died too.
Every group of terrariums adds a nice splash of organic "specialness" to the store for about 3 days... After that, bugs, spiders, and mold overtake the cluster and I'm instructed to throw them out and start again. Despite my failure, it's a brilliant idea... Plants that essentially water themselves! 

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