Colletti - Terrariums : gardens under glass : designing, creating, and planting modern indoor gardens

First published in 2015 by Cool Springs Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.,

400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text 2015 Maria Colletti

Photography 2015 Maria Colletti unless otherwise noted below

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Digital edition: 978-1-62788-711-3
Softcover edition: 978-1-59186-633-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Colletti, Maria, 1959- author.

Terrariums : gardens under glass : designing, creating, and planting modern indoor gardens / Maria Colletti.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59186-633-6 (sc)

1. Glass gardens. 2. Terrariums. 3. Indoor gardening. I. Title. II. Title: Gardens under glass.

SB417.C65 2015

635.9824--dc23

2015012059

Acquisitions Editor: Billie Brownell

Project Manager: Caitlin Fultz

Art Director: Cindy Samargia Laun

Book Design and Layout: Amelia LeBarron

Photo Credits

Lori Adams: front cover,

Daniel L. Hyman:

All other photos by Maria Colletti.

GARDENS UNDER GLASS

DESIGNING, CREATING, AND PLANTING
MODERN INDOOR GARDENS

MARIA COLLETTI

Just what is a terrarium? Terrariums create an enclosed ecosystem that mimics the natural world. Moisture evaporates from the soil level and the leaves of plants, then condenses on the roof and walls of a glass vessel or container. The condensed vapor then drops down, replicating the natural rain cycles that provide moisture for our ecosystem and keep our planet alive.

In 1829, Dr. Nathaniel B. Ward (17911868), a London physician with a passion for botany and nature, realized the scientific principle behind what is now our modern-day terrarium. In a closed bottle, Dr. Ward studied a sphinx moth in its chrysalis and found a fern seedling growing. After four months time, without so much as a drop of water from him, the seedling developed. Ward was amazed, and the concept for the Wardian case was born. Ward could not have known how he would influence the future of terrarium craft over a century later, but we appreciate his discovery today.

Charles Darwin sailed on the ship HMS Beagle around the world from 1832 to 1836, including a trip to the Galapagos Islands off South America. In 1839, he published findings that led to his survival of the fittest theory. This theory can be boiled down to this: living things pass along the traits (or genes) that best assist in the optimal survival of their species.

This modern-day Wardian case design is gloriously filled with palms, which are traditional conservatory plants.

Darwin and others brought back botanicals that were kept alive because the explorers transported their finds from the jungles of far-away continents and back to civilization in large glass jars. They had to keep these plant specimens alive to study, draw, and catalog. They chose Dr. Wards method of enclosed glass jars, which was actually perfect for exotic plant material that naturally lives in hot, humid environments.

On my windowsill at home, I have started my own experiments. I have contained a Venus flytrap or a little creeping fig in a lidded jar. I wake up every morning and peer into its small world to check on its survival. I may open the lid and wipe out the excess moisture, and then close the lid. This amuses me, and I think of myself as a naturalist who has brought home her exotic treasures to grow and study under glass.

I have experimented with carnivorous plants, ferns, and tropical foliage plants, and have also incorporated stones and moss. Now I have successful outcomes, small worlds of all kinds, to share with you. Successful lidded terrariums do not need watering or much maintenance, so you can enjoy them even more.

Do you think Dr. Ward would be proud of how we have developed such loveliness from his scientific beginnings?

The Roots of My Terrarium Obsession

It all started years ago in a place called The Shop in the Garden at The New York Botanical Garden, where I work. At the time, we were selling unusual, uniquely shaped home dcor glass vessels. One duplicated an enormous 3-foot-tall martini glass, complete with long stem. I started filling these glasses with plants, and they sold!

Terrariums were not as popular or well known then. I kept experimenting, using loads of different plants and scenarios until I found my own design method. I learned which plants I could maintain well, and where the terrarium craft was headed. This was before the air plant mania (Tillandsia) rose to its present crescendo. Since that first design, I have created dozens of small-world landscapes encased in glass. It excites me to think my creations are bringing joy to others and exist out there as a small slice of botanical life.

I am a retailer first, but my perspective is that of a garden lifestyle retailer. My perspective is unique in that I am always thinking: where can I get these plants, this material, or these supplies? Do I have to have it shipped it to me, or can I find it conveniently in my neighborhood?

So in addition to sharing my terrarium design and growing experience, I am passing the results of my resource searches to you, the terrarium lover, the terrarium designer, or the new terrarium hobbyist who says, I want to try out a new craft. I want a living thing near me where I can see it every day. Maybe I need it to take up very little amount of my free time and space.

This Venus fly trap (Dionaea