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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Terrariums in New Zealand

Photo / Ben Crawford, The New Zealand Herald
Indoor gardeners the world over enjoy building these miniature gardens enclosed in glass.  New Zealand Times reporter Ben Crawford touches base with local botanical stylist Annie Oxborough about the joys and challenges of maintaining terrarium gardens.

I love the silly quote about memories some of us may have of terrariums from our childhood, albeit this memory sounds distinctly NZ:

"She believes New Zealand's national aversion to styling our homes with botanical brilliance is due to dated images formed during our childhoods. Memories created at nana's; one of beiges, shag-pile carpet and conservatories crammed to overflowing with odd-smelling pot plants, barely any space left to lift a club sandwich from a Royal Doulton saucer."

Annie hits the nail on the head in regard to the appeal of terrarium collecting.  It is easy and fun to make more than one and when it comes down to it - the commitment is low and makes a terrarium a great gardening project for those who aren't expert gardeners.

"Planting a terrarium isn't a lifetime investment. One of the main barriers preventing people from having house plants is they think they'll kill them, but once you have a little display sorted you'll be surprised at how easy they are to care for. And if something dies, replacing a $12 plant isn't a big deal, that's only a couple of coffees."

5 comments:

  1. >It is easy and fun to make more than one
    The hard part is to know when to stop making them. I'm really bad at that part.

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  2. I always enjoy your writing.
    They way you see things - those miniature gardens in small glass bottles and they speak another realm of their own - so balanced and perfect in their contained world.

    It took me some time to understand about Mosses.
    They don't simply appear to be easy - not for a beginner like me.
    But regardless, I manage to get them to be part of my life.
    Or at least to say... part of my garden.

    Well, I must thank you for the countless inspirations when I see this blog.
    Now, something from my side of the tropical world for you to see.
    I hope you enjoy it.

    http://jamesmissier.blogspot.com/2013/10/ferns-mosses.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear James - Thanks for your kind comment and for sharing your blog. I enjoyed seeing your photos and look forward to seeing more of your garden on your blog.

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