Happy Monday!
It is easy to read a blog and see photos and think that the writer leads a perfect life. We try to keep it real here at The 2 Seasons, and this post is a perfect example of that. After watching a Martha Stewart television show segment about building a terrarium last fall, I decided to get ‘er done. I didn’t have a terrarium, but I did have my mother’s pickle jar. I planted what I thought was a great terrarium and wrote a blog about it here.
Fast forward a few months, and it was looking like this.
That green crud did not look like a healthy environment.
The only plant that survived was the ivy, and it is now living in a clay pot.
Meanwhile, Joss and Main had a Victorian-style terrarium on sale one day, and I went for it.
I filled it with lots of happy plants and wrote about it here. I was excited to have plants that could be low maintenance which is important since we travel so much. What I didn’t realize, though, is that the top was warped and lots of air was able to get in. The air then dried out the plants. Shame on you Joss and Main for charging a perfect price for an damaged product.
While we were away recently, my lush little greenhouse turned into this. It looked like a desert, sort of. So, I saved the plants that looked somewhat happy, but now two weeks later, they are also dead. I guess the stress of living without moisture and water had done them in. I think I’ll stick to easy plants in clay pots and let Martha plant the terrariums.
*****
Take care.
Linking to 
Sorry you’ve had such bad luck with terraiums — but at least you were real! Can you get your money back on the warped one?
The box arrived, and I didn’t open it for over a month because we were out of the country. When I came home and discovered the problem, they said it had been in my possession too long. In other words, they didn’t believe me.
We try to keep it real around the ponds too!
That’s too bad, because it’s a beautiful terrarium. I have a faux plant in mine but I’ve mixed in other decor, too. After killing an ivy plant that I bought a few months ago for the laundry room, I’m back to faux now. Low light doesn’t mean no light but in a condo sometimes there is no way around that!
I can totally relate! Why can I grow plants outside, but inside I regularly commit plant murder?
I hate when customer service lets you down!
I have found terrariums to be a real challenge for me so I can relate!
I’m sorry for your plant failure, but when I look at that terrarium I see a wonderful opportunity to decorate in December. You could put in a small Christmas cactus or some poinsettias and prop the lid open and use other stuff to make it dazzling, I’ll bet.
I haven’t done a terrarium since the early 70’s (totally dating myself), but I always planted directly into dirt inside the terrarium. It was kind of a layered set-up with charcoal & rocks as the base & then the plants in dirt. My instructions said to watch for moisture build-up & leave the lid off or slightly ajar for awhile to let the moisture escape. I always had great luck with mine. Too bad about the big one you bought, but I agree with a previous commenter about wonderful decorating possibilities.
Nice try. I’ve got a terranium I bought already decorated for Christmas. It has little Xmas trees with battery operated lights in it. My fav decoration.
I hear you when you talk about dead indoor plants. I have two large palm plants I purchased this summer. Put one on the screen porch, moved it to a large window in family room, then low light in dining room, then to the bathroom with medium light and lots of moisture. I have two of them and they are both dying. They aren’t happy anywhere I put them. I now remember why I hate having indoor plants. They’re a pain.
Linda