Christmas from Nancy

The day before yesterday we found a package on our front stoop addressed to D from his sister Nancy.  It was from White Flower Farm, a purveyor of plants and related goodies, so we put it in the garage to stay cool until yesterday when he had time to open his gift (knowing that it was probably plant material we knew we couldn't wait until Christmas).

In the box, he found everything he needed for a terrarium, and I do mean everything.  I was too excited to take photos until he'd started planting, but here he is on his way.  First he laid down a layer of gravel and then some pellitized charcoal.  Next was soil that had been soaking up water while he completed the first steps.  At that point he unwrapped five plants and thought about how he would arrange them (yes, five plants!).

 

You can see he's on the fourth plant in the above picture.  You may notice that two of the plants have green and red coloration (and fern-like leaves), one has green leaves with white veining, there's a bromeliad in the center that is taller and has corn plant-like leaves, and the last plant is a "button"-leafed plant.  It's leaves are nicely rounded.  What a striking combination of plants!*

 



 

Gently pressing soil around the plant.  In the foreground of this photograph you can see the plant identifying sticks and the sheet of detailed, step-by-step instructions on the right and the top of the terrarium on the left.

Plant number five is being settled in place.  After this he was to put sand on the top of the soil for aesthetical reasons.  For those same reasons, he opted not to do that as he likes the more natural look of the dark, loamy soil (the sand was the color of curry powder).  I think the green of the plants against the backdrop of the soil is simply lovely.

 

Plant have been misted and encased in their new home.  D had a great time putting this together, and it was the first thing he checked this morning.  The glass had the hoped for light condensation on the interior, so we knew all was progressing as it should.

 

This was an inspired gift, Nancy!

 

*for those of you interested in plants, here are the "proper" names:

red and green plants: Selaginella sanguin erythropus 'Ruby Red Moss'

        the 2nd one's plant ID tag is missing, but I remember it, too, was a Selaginella

green leaf with white veining:  Fittonia (painted net leaf)

bromeliad: Bromelias Vriesea 'Kallisto'

button leaf: Pellaea rotundifolia 'Button Fern'