Classy Glass Gardens: Terrariums

Beginner:  Research what it takes to make a terrarium.  What plants will do best?  How big do you want the terrarium to be?  Where will you put it?  

This seemed like a job for the 635.98 section of the library... 

My favorite was Terrarium: 33 Glass Gardens to Make on Your Own by Bauer and Levy.  The things I loved were (1) close up photos of the plant material with charts about their light and moisture needs (2) and attempt to make group geographically related plant guilds in their terrariums so you could see a microcosm of an entire bioregion.  

It turned out these books cast a wide net around what counts as a terrarium-- open containers, closed containers, no containers (kokedama), indoor decor, outdoor decor, bonsai, fish tanks, partial/completely artifical plants and moss.  Wow.  

I'm pretty inquisitive so here are the designs I found most intriguing: 

• Herbs in easy reach in the kitchen.  There as a cute kokedama ball of Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram).  I have a kokedama staghorn fern already and worry it dries out so fast in our house though...  
• Bathroom sprucing.  We have a bathroom we have covered in slate and rock climbing holds.  It feels like a cafe.  Kokedama balls might have enough humidity to work here, as could some cool real/preserved moss wall art.  It gets very little sunlight though.  
• Aquaria.  For years, we had a little fishtank with a hydroponic tray up top filled with basil, celery, and pitcher plants.  Down below, we had a little scene with a scuba diver and some bright orange "lobster" aka cherry shrimp.  This was so captivating to watch grow.  However I didn't love that the tray was white plastic and acrylic and even as a small aquarium it took up a lot of prime counter space by the sink.  
• Nautical decor.  Since the whole kitchen is supposed to look like a steampunk submarine, I think some artful vignettes with conch or urchin shells and air plants  or a little ship in a bottle with some coral reef looking succulents would not look out of place.  That said, I'm in a decluttering era so if these were not serving a clear utilitarian purpose, they probably won't get built.  Incidentally, some houseplants have been able to scrub some VOCs out of the air...  Though it seems like the consensus is you're better off opening a window than densely packing plants into every available area of floor space.  
• Historical interest.  I am so intrigued by the Victorian gentlemen explorers, out collecting ferns and orchids and shipping them back to Kew to be cultivated in Wardian cases .  I would love to build a couple terrariums in honor of Joseph Banks, Alexander von Humboldt, Joseph Hooker and the like.  Since we are already somewhat in the habit of looking for a seed/houseplant souvenir when we travel, maybe making little terrariums to capture the biome of the region we just "explored" might be fun too.  
• Gifts.  This one is the most plausible and what we ended up doing for our first batch.  It is tricky to know what to give people to be polite with the dietary restrictions on sugar, alcohol, meat, wheat, etc.  However, neither recipient seemed to mind a very low-maintenance piece of decor.  

We were intrigued to read in Mary Jane's Farm magazine that asparagus fern can do well in terrariums.  It is a weed in our yard, so maybe cultivating it is worth a shot in the "if you can't beat them, sell them," vein.  MJF neglected to mention that these ferns have some pretty sharp thorns!  The terrarium books from the library did occasionally mention them, but usually listed recipes that called for exotic varieties.    

I've also subscribed to a local gardener's mailing list after finding fairy garden inspiration in one of her published books.  

Intermediate:  Get gardening!  Create your own glass garden.  Share your creation on our Farmgirl Connection chatroom under Merit Badge Chit Chat.  

It is so easy to over-buy material for projects like this.  We scheduled a mom-daughter date at Dragonfly boutique (8/6/2026) to choose from their selection of supplies.  These terrariums feature 2" cacti which have low water requirements.  There are so many interesting rocks, gems, charms and fairy garden decor, we will definitely be back!  

Expert:  Create a terrarium and gift it.  

We gifted our Dragonfly terrariums to Daddy and Grandma!  

I chose blue gems and sand with shells so Granny's terrarium would be equally at home at her beach house and alongside the blue glass bottle collection in her kitchen.  I love how the echeveria flower spike is so hopefully stretching over the upper rim of the terrarium-- just like Granny, testing those boundaries!  

My young cultivator chose vibrant yellow sand and green rocks because these are some of dad's favorite colors.  Her plant could be a Mexican Fence Post cactus and was a bit trickier to work around with all the spines!   

Our shared "maker's mark" was an implausible fly agaric toadstool that is very out of place in these low-water mini landscapes.