Beaker terrarium

Yes, that is a really big beaker. Actually, an Erlenmeyer flask. Still, it was pretty cool sitting on the sales table in Anthropologie a couple of months ago. Alas, it is no more. Saturday, I stopped by the office to pick up something I left in my bag and bumped into the tray that was sitting next to the terrarium on the window sill. It came crashing to my desk, luckily avoiding any electronics and only breaking into a couple of big pieces.

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but I've been putting it off. And, not just because I've been a bit slow at letting y'all know what I've been up to. This picture was taken a few months ago, a couple of months into the terrariums life. On Saturday, when it came to its end, the tall little plant was shooting out of the top and had choked off the fern down below. I was going to change out the plant in my terrarium and then post new pictures for you.

I was inspired to make a terrarium by instructions in the April issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Almost at the end of the magazine was a couple of pages of craft projects in the better family section. It says that is perfect for young kids, which I took to mean easy to do on a Saturday afternoon without making too much mess. The flask at Anthropologie helped me with the first on the list of the things I needed, and a trip to the greenhouse provided the rest. 

The folks that said this would be good for younger kids didn't mean for you to choose a flask for your glass container, and here is where the difference between a flask and a beaker becomes more important. Getting those plants into the flask was difficult and getting them planted even harder. I resorted to using my knife sharpener to help poke the plants around the base, and I tried to use it to shovel dirt. It worked pretty well. 

I am sad that my Beaker terrarium is no more, but I still have the instructions, pebbles, activated charcoal and potting soil needed to start another one. Maybe this time I'll choose a real beaker.