Little Big

Making a terrarium with a thick layer of carpet-like moss was always a dream of mine, but it was dream that was out of reach. Our climate doesn’t lend itself to moss, being too hot and, even in winter, too dry. If you head to the foothills or the mountains you are more likely to find lichen and tangles of hairy, dry moss on the forest floor. I contemplated buying moss from a wetter, darker climate and seeing if I could keep it alive within glass walls. I thought about this for years but never got around to buying some.

Sometimes you find the things you need in the least likely of places. A few weeks ago I went to a baby shower for my dear friend Ellen, at a place affectionately known as the ranch, and when the party was over we were all ushered outside for picture time. While family and friends took their turn I wandered about the yard taking photos, as I’m wont to do, and I found it. Moss! All over the ground! I picked up great emerald chunks and turned them over in my hand. They were shingles from the roof of an old barn that enjoyed copious amounts of shade during the day. The moss and the wood of the shingle had fused together to become one single organism. The moss was dry and hard but I felt that it could be revived if I took it home and gave it water and shade.

And here’s why my friend Ellen is so great: Here I am picking up dead moss attached to rotten shingles on her family’s property, gleefully asking her if I can keep them, keep all the precious bits of moss that looked like an infected dried-out sponge and she not only said yes but she offered to get me a bag. That girl’s a keeper.

Operation Gleefully Shove Your Friend’s Moss in Bag was a success and a few sips of water later and these babies have a new lease on life. I found the large terrarium container at an estate sale recently. The smaller one is actually a brandy snifter that I found while thrifting. The deer was part of a vintage lot of Christmas goodies I indulged in before Treasures to Find closed.

I’ll be selling both containers as a set in my shop once I have time to do some uploading.

My friend Ellen is having a baby soon, and so to celebrate I gave her a collection of plants that in time will hopefully require no maintenance at all. Even though gifts were verboten at this shower (she’s having her second boy and they have everything they need already) I figured this gift would be okay since it was for Ellen, and not sweet baby Luke, and because I’ve been meaning to give this to her for at least a year now.

I originally used this terrarium to pimp my desk when I worked at the library, but since then I’ve been looking to give it a new home. It’s apple-shaped and Ellen is a teacher. The choice is obvious.

I found this container years ago while thrifting and it held gross-looking fake flowers that were wired to the bottom of the glass. I ripped out what I could by hand but ended up taking wire cutters to it to remove the rest. I posted a simple terrarium tutorial plus links for inspiration here.

For this terrarium I used baby spider plants and cuttings from three types of succulents: a jade plant, a calico kitten, a snippet of something my friend Justy brought me from the top of Half Dome.

Succulents like to keep their roots dry in between waterings and can be tricky to house in enclosed terrariums. Jade plants do better than most, and the other two have been hardy staples in my garden. If things get too moist, taking the lid off and letting them air out will help. Spider plants can generally take all the abuse you can give them.

The baby shower was held at the family ranch and while I was there I found some shingles on the ground that were coated with a thick layer of emerald moss. It is so hard to find moss where I live because our climate is so hot and dry. They were already starting to wither so I took as many pieces as I could carry and when I got home I soaked them in water. They started to revive so there will be moss terrariums in my future.