Florarium is a composition of indoor plants in a transparent glass container, which can have all kinds of shapes. Fans and interior designers in natural style are now keenly interested in them. It looks original, there are a great many options.
A more "weighty" option that can surprise even those who are indifferent to plants is a florarium in a completely closed container, in the so-called Ward's box, which, by the way, often has a round shape or a hemispherical shape. But its arrangement should be taken very seriously - carefully select plants with the same requirements for soil composition and moisture regime, capable of living in a confined space. It is necessary to calculate the possibility of maintaining the desired microclimate inside the vessel for a sufficiently long time.
You can even consider the stylish thick glass spice or oil bottle found in crockery and home decor stores as Ward's crate. A garden in a bottle can be arranged either at the bottom of a vessel or by fixing it on a stand in a horizontal position. But here you need skill and almost jewelry skill to beautifully arrange miniature indoor plants in a bottle without scattering the soil substrate throughout the vessel and come up with an original composition.
Today we will focus on a rather "cheerful" version of the garden in a glass container. It will be about making a florarium with colored quartz sand. Such a composition can serve as a bright spot in the interior or become a memorable gift for a loved one.
Of course, the question will certainly arise - how long such a garden can exist without changing its appearance. Immediately I will make a reservation that it is not necessary to count for a particularly long period, because the plants in such a florarium are planted in individual cups, over time the roots will become cramped and the plants will be "asked" to be placed in a full-size container. And it is important not to pour water on the sand when watering. It will dry out for a very long time. In general, from experience I can say that with a successful coincidence of circumstances for about six months, the composition can easily retain its appearance.
In theory, such a florarium can be arranged in containers of any size. But deep and very voluminous vessels are still not worth choosing, they will eventually be very heavy and the question will arise with the volume of decorative sand. It is advisable to calculate its quantity in advance, so that later you do not frantically search in stores for the color and texture you need.
First you need to figure out what constituents you have - what capacity the striped outfit will have to face, what plants will be appropriate in size in it, what kind of picture you want to draw in general. You can sketch a drawing on paper, so you can't go wrong with the number and volume of components. If you wish, you can recreate the whole picture of life - a place to relax on the seashore, a day in the village, a languid evening in a shady garden. For example, in the composition "Wild Beach", a crocheted beach towel forgotten by an absent-minded bather, coupled with a bright umbrella (decoration for cocktails) immediately makes it clear why we are all here today.
Capacity - it is, of course, "the head of everything." Choose one that would not be small in height and volume to the largest plant in the composition (more precisely, its root system), considering that it will be planted in an individual cup. It can be a dish, a hemisphere, a large fake brandy glass, a low square vase, a waist vase. When placing a cup with a planted plant in a container, the edges of the cup should be lower than the edges of the container and should not rest against the walls of the container.
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You need to buy decorative quartz sand from handicraft stores or florist shops. Keep in mind that you need a lot of sand, if not trick.More on this later ...
Do not forget about small pebbles that will be required for filling the top layer and other decorative elements with which you will decorate the composition (beautiful stones, shells, marbles, platyk or clay elements).
You will also need a soft brush, a paper bag, expanded clay drainage and cups without holes in the bottom for planting plants.
There should be no capricious plants in the composition. As well as fast growing. Inhabitants must tolerate both short-term drought and temporary humidity. Fittonias, miniature ferns, selaginella will really like to live in spherical, semi-closed florariums. They even have to be sprayed there infrequently. Inside such a container, a certain humidity regime will be maintained by itself.
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In open containers, you can plant dwarf varieties of spathiphyllum, for a short time (until it grows) Bonnie chlorophytum, hypoesthes. Fittonias can also be planted in such vessels, just not to forget and spray x at least occasionally. As a string of pearls that completes the look, I like to plant Wood's ceropegia or ivy, if occasion allows.
Plants in the composition should not "argue" with each other regarding color, texture, habit. They don't have to be the same at all, but sharp contrast in all relationships should be avoided. You should not chase the quantity either, because in such a small area you can easily overdo it. Sometimes one colorful representative is enough, but it happens that several plants are conveniently combined, but in such a way that “freedom” remains between them in the florarium.
When choosing a cup for planting a plant, give preference to one in which there would be at least a little space for the further growth of its root system. There is no need to make drain holes in the bottom. The role of drainage will be played by a layer of fine expanded clay.
It remains to plant a plant, water it and proceed directly to the decor.
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First, put some decorative sand for the first layer on the bottom of the container and place, trying on, containers with plants. The edges of all cups should be flush. It is important. Therefore, if some glass is smaller in height, it will need to be installed on the sand later, when several layers are filled in, so that the soil level in all the glasses lies in the same plane.
The bottom line is to cover the decorative sand with picturesque layers. And they don't have to be even. The stripes look even more interesting, which dance unobtrusively, like a calm sea wave. But first, while still in the store, attach the bags of decorative sand to each other - see how these or those colors combine with each other. And you don't need to use more than 3 colors.
The thickness of the layers can be different, but you do not need to cover more than 1 cm in height with one color. Thin stripes look much more intelligent.
Each layer will have to be carefully leveled with a brush, adding sand as needed. It is better to pour the sand into a narrow container through a paper bag.
Now is the time to cheat! But this is only if your capacity is large, and the sand may not be enough. We'll have to fill the inner part of the composition to the maximum with cheaper stone chips or fine gravel. But just remember that decorative sand will wake up in the cracks, so make sure that all the gaps are filled at once, and not revealed later. Please note that such a trick will not work with figured containers; due to the small diameter of the vessel, it will be inconvenient to place third-party filler and mask it with sand.
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And remember that when creating layers you need to use sand of exactly the same fraction and structure. If finer sand is poured onto a layer of a larger one, a clear boundary between them will not work - the sand will mix, spill into the underlying layers.
The filler layer that covers the soil in the plant cup must be breathable because the soil must breathe. And you should be able to at least sometimes check the condition of the soil for moisture at the organoleptic level, returning all the pebbles to their place.
Further decor - what the fantasy tells. It can be shells, marbles, miniature furniture, interior items and other trifles dear to the heart that you want to look at and that would complement the composition.
What else should be understood in advance - it will be necessary to water the plants very carefully, from a teaspoon, supplying water exactly to the stem, so as not to get on the decorative deposits of sand and so as not to flood the plant. Watering will be infrequent because the soil will still dry out much more slowly than in a simple pot. You can even wait for the leaves of the plants to lose a little turgor, in order to probably already exclude the possibility of overflow. Then you will learn to understand by the appearance of the plants whether they want to drink or not.
That's all - the florarium is ready! It remains to advise the new owner about the rules for caring for plants and the method of transportation. Be on the alert - when shaking in transport on bad roads for a long distance, layers of sand can easily mix.
Photo by the author
Composition "Seascape" Composition "Seascape" 
Composition "Wild beach" Composition "Wild beach" 
Composition "Tropics" Composition "Tropics"
