Terrariums: A Tiny Garden Party

This is something I'm working on.  "A Tiny Garden Party".  Wanted to share.  And gather your ideas.

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How fun would it be to host "A Tiny Garden Party" where each guest created and went home with their own Terrarium.  Beautiful little gardens of their own creation.  Small enough to sit on a side table, kitchen counter, or a dresser in their rooms.  As for containers, there are so many choices.  Anything from a 2 litter plastic bottle to a more sophisticated glass vase.

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I would love to teach the young women how to plant their own terrariums, of course coupled with a lesson!

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terrarium by DoodleBirdie

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LESSON

As I read the paragraph below, a number of different analogies came to mind.  Without spoiling your own thoughts...  what gospel centered principles come to your mind when you read this particular version of the story of how the terrarium first began?

"One hot summer day a man walking through an arid field, where all plant life was withered and dry, saw at his feet an unbroken bottle lying on its side.  Inside the bottle was lush green growth. Through wind and rain, soil and seed had drifted into the bottle; and there, protected from the elements, the seed had germinated and grown. The moisture within the bottle condensed each day and fell upon the little plants, and so they grew in their own small hothouse in the parched field."*

SUPPLIES

• 1 or 2 small plants:    Possible plant choices for Open Terrariums -Fittonia, Ivy, Palms, Philodendron, Syngonium, Begonia, Airplant, African Violet, Aluminum Plant, Asparagus Fern, Baby Tears, and Bloodleaf.  And for Closed Terrariums - Fittonia, Palms, Philodendron, Syngonium, Begonia, Bloodleaf, Ficus, and Croton.
• glass jar or plastic container, large enough to hold plants with room for growth
• bag of small rocks or pebbles
• charcoal or fired clay pellets
• sphagnum moss
• potting soil
• wooden skewers or twig, to extend your reach and aid in the planting process
• tiny plastic trinkets, to add interest
• creativity

INSTRUCTIONS

• Put about an inch of pebbles in the bottom of the container for drainage.
• Add a layer of charcoal to keep odors at bay.  Note:  charcoal only works for a couple of years.  If you plan to maintain your terrarium for longer, substitute a layer of fired clay pellets.
• Add a layer of sphagnum moss to keep the potting soil from seeping into the drainage level. (If you pack the drainage level tightly, you can skip the moss.)
• Add an inch or two of potting soil and begin planting.
• Top off the landscape with rocks and plastic trinkets. Spritz with water. Sit back and forget about watering for a while.
• NOTE:  Once established, terrarium plants can go weeks or even months on a spritz or two of water. That's because the water evaporates from the plant, but remains inside the container as condensation moistens the soil.
• Open Terrariums need only occassional watering, water lightly.
• Closed Terrariums watering needed only when fogging on the sides stops or plants starts to wilt

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RESOURCES

Twig:  Moss Terrarium and Other Small Worlds
"The Glass Garden", Ensign, November 1972