DIVERSITY

I planted these few terrariums recently and two were given to my friends. Both types of glass containers were from IKEA and I don't know about others, but I definitely prefer containers that are just plain simple so that the plants can stand out and look their best.


I don't like to use frosted or coloured containers because they let in less light for the plants and steal the limelight away from the plants. I certainly also don't like to use those containers with surfaces that are folded because it will mask the view of the plants and distort their appearance. The only reason why I chose the second container type is because I wanted to use a variety of containers to create diversity.


Anyway, I will comment about other related issues in subsequent posts.

A TAIL OF TWO SNAKES

I made this for a friend's birthday recently and I added a butterfly sticker. Maybe I should use this as my trademark from now on?


Ok, I give up. I don't want to name my terrariums anymore since I always use the Snakeskin Plants all the time for such small containers and I don't want everything to be named after snakes. But maybe "A Tail of Two Snakes"? Get it? Aright, it is sounding very corny.

TRAPPED

I planted this for a friend recently based on his request. This time round, I mixed two coloured varieties of Fittonias and planted them in a bottle lying on its side again.

SNAKES IN A BOTTLE

I am not a very imaginative person, so I am giving these terrariums the names 'Snakes in a Bottle' after the Snakeskin Plant (scientific name: Fittonia verschaffeltii). Yes, I know. There is nothing fantastic about the names.

NOAH'S ARK

This is one of my latest creation in a large glass container. Named 'Noah's Ark', it is saturated with 4 cultivars of Fittonia, a Ficus pumila 'Sonny', a Pilea cadierei, 2 Pilea cultivars and another unknown plant, not visibly seen in the photos because it is still very small.


I must find other plants to try out in the terrarium.

9 AUG 11 - NATIONAL DAY

I did these terrariums some time ago but only took the photos now. In fact, i did up a bigger one recently but have not taken its photos. Maybe I should give each creation a name?

Alright, i admit the presentation looks bad. But i was in a rush and so did not find a good place and setting to take more professional looking photos.

Anyway, the first 3 photos show a terrarium planted by me in April as part of a demonstration on the Suntec event on active ageing. However, I changed the Selaginella which planted with this fern because the former rotted. The rest of the plants were the ones I planted then and I pruned the Pilea or Aluminium plant recently for propagation. There was also a miniature squirrel holding an acorn figurine that I put in the container. So perhaps I shall name this "The Ice Age" because it reminds me of the prehistoric creature chasing after the acorn in the movie cartoon.


The second Ikea container with the red Fittonia was planted as a simple gift for someone. It was named "Bleeding Hearts" for the red-veined leaves, resembling small hearts, of the snakeskin plant.


The third was planted with 2 bleached coloured Fittonias. The inspiration was from the harmful effects of the sun, so I am naming it "Sunburnt".


Frankly, I don't consider the latter two as completed products because I have yet to add any other ornaments to decorate it. But they have to see the world anyway.

TERRARIUM

This is my first post on terrariums. I started planting them more than 15 years ago and stopped for a while.

Recently, I thought of starting a blog on terrariums and vivariums and I planted these containers a few days ago. It is still not complete because I am missing a few plants.

These were planted predominantly with Fittonia cultivars (common name: Snakeskin Plant), Ludisia discolor (common name: Jewel Orchid) and a Peperomia puteolata (common name: Radiator Plant). I want a bigger terrarium to try out other possible plants like Begonia, Calathea, Nepenthes etc.