Saturday in the Secret Garden Terrarium

This is Jeff. I'm hijacking Dana's blog while she's at a Women's Leadership Council meeting.
Be vewwy quiet....
Sometimes the jobs a spouse asks another spouse to do are, well, not so enjoyable, but necessary for the furtherance of the family unit....Today, however, Dana asked me to help Gracen with a really fun project.

Gracen has been reading The Secret Garden recently in school. One of the activities mentioned in the comprehension guide was to make a terrarium to become familiar with plants & remind you of things read in the story. They suggested several types of mosses, lichens, etc. So that means it's time to visit The Plant Lady . Teresa Johnson is a wonderful lady & horticulturalist who has helped us answer many questions over the years.

So Gracen & I trekked over this morning to see what she had. Readers here may remember our dear, departed hermit crabs Mike & Mady. Their home is now the aforementioned terrarium.

Here is the recipe for a fun morning:

1 container with a 1-2 inch layer of absorbent substrate like pea gravel:




Add a layer of this:



Here are the plants that we got: A polka-dot plant- the taller, pink one. It does have a proper name, which I can't remember. Angelvine, I believe, and Irish Moss. I told Gracen she'd have to play Danny Boy for it at least weekly to make it feel at home....



Loosen the dirt around the roots (dog not essential, but very, ahem, helpful) & place in soil. Cover soil with more gravel...





Decorate with colored rocks, seashells, whatever...



The results are a piece of beauty to enjoy & learn from and a very happy girl!