JANUARY 27, 2012 BUILDING A TERRARIUM

" I have not thought it beneath me to converse with Root and Indian Doctors, and everyone who has professed to possess any valuable remedy." - Wooster Beach ( The American Practice. 1833,10) -

The quote is great. I have no problem with conversing with anyone who can help me assist in healing. This quote appeared in the Introduction of Matthew Wood's The Earthwise Herbal ) New World Medicinal Plants) I am drawn today to any aspect of healing, especially if it involves plants. So today with much thought, respect and vision I want to tell you about a hobby that I watched someone else do. The someone else is Rick. We both love plants and have an affinity to the energy of the plant. He - more with flowers, me more with plants.
I wanted to buy a special gift this year. So I went to http://www.onekingslane.com/ and found an old style terrarium with numbers paneled glass #1 and #2. It arrived after Christmas ( naturally) but it arrived in one piece.

The journey of terrarium planting started 2-3 weeks later in the Flower District of New York City. We had to buy small terrarium plants. I also had some assistance from a patient, Ruth, in sending me baby Pitcher Plants ( there are carnivorous eating plants like Venus Fly Traps ) which will be planted in the terrarium. This is a great hobby. The thought of creating a small, fascinating world in a glass enclosure is fascinating to me. I always marveled in seeing terrariums in movies that depict the life of the 19th century. Usually people chose a terrarium as they cannot grow outdoors. Rick and I have the ability to grow plants outdoors as well as indoors. We just added a different dimension to plants in our life. So we selected plants that will thrive. We had to consider the light quality. Of course south and west facing windows would be the best. We do not want the plants to grow larger than the terrarium but who knows. This is the fun of it. We want no pests ( bugs) in our terrarium. Of course if we always kept it closed I would have every sort of amphibian or reptile in the terrarium.

As usual Rick read an article about terrariums. He bought the charcoal, the rocks, the 'right' soil and the sphagnum moss. I watched him create. It did layers then 2 - 3" of soil in waves of height and depth to create this tiny small plant kingdom. He added driftwood and an air plant. Occasional watering, maybe some trimming, and light is all that is required when finished.

Of course, he added love. I added a prayer and energy.

I found a book on line by Tovah Martin called The New Terrarium. I peeked inside- there are great terrarium resources, imagination and great photographs. You can find a lot of information on line. Find the right terrarium. Our next one will be a larger one to sit on the floor in the shape of a large bell jar.

Photograph Credit: Rick Byrd , Our Terrarium

Until tomorrow...