Tomlinson Plant Design: Imagination & Inspiration Part II: A Gallery

I've been keeping quite busy making terrariums (because I have the most amazing customers in the world!), and it's probably time to share a few more things that I've been working on.

The Drops

Little did I know that these teardrop terrariums would be among the most coveted I've ever had the opportunity to play with! I stumbled upon them at the Flower Factory on Main Street (one of my favorite local haunts), and was immediately smitten. Literally the next day, a customer approached me about wanting a pair of teardrop terrariums--fate! Some things are just meant to be.

I chose to do all succulents, haworthia, and cacti for this customer, not just because he claims to kill everything, but because those plant selections play up the semi-nautical/oceanic feel of the terrariums themselves. I'm going through a bit of a variegated sansevaria addiction right now, and I absolutely love how it looks like bull kelp in the drops, really anchoring (sorry) an "under-the-sea" feel. The cactus in the one drop is pretty amazing too: it looks like a gnarly cancerous tumor on its own , but here it looks like a chunk of reef or a weird anemone. I also wanted to keep a very organic feel to these terrariums. Rather than finish them off with sand and stone, I used mosses, polished rock, and lichen covered sticks--it just gives it a bit more of a unique and unexpected appeal.

Terrariums like these require a lot of sun or bright light, but they require minimal watering--if you neglect it, all will be well. This customer chose to hang them in his windows, and I cannot think of a better home for them! If succulents don't get enough light, they either stretch for it or they die. If you find yourself with a stretching succulent, you can either turn it towards more light, take cutting from it and try again, or remove the leggy beast and move on with your life.

The Jurassic

I LOVE this bubble bowl. It was almost too much fun to work with; I had a hard time parting with it! I ordered this particular bowl directly through the lovely gentlemen at Coal Harbour Floral & Green Design after seeing it in their shop. When the order came in for a large terrarium for a large round desk at a law firm downtown, this was the only terrarium that I could think of that could be so spectacular.

I kept to tropicals and tillandsias for this terrarium because it is pretty enclosed, and will therefore should maintain a higher humidity and require less watering. This style of terrarium simply requires bright indirect light, and someone to check on it once and a while to ensure that the soil is moist. I would think it would be okay with a bit of water once every other week at most, but a nice spritz once or twice a week. The important thing is to not let the soil and moss become soggy or there will be mold. If you find mold, pull it and any infected plants out right away and let it dry out a bit. It is less heartbreaking to replace one plant than to have to replant an entire jungle!

In case you're wondering, in this terrarium I used: diefenbachia, dracena, creeping fig, pothos, tillandsias, begonias, ferns, and a tropical type of stetcretia.

The Bromance: The Pinnacle

The Bromance

The Bromance: Part III

The Bromance is really a trio of terrariums that I did up for a law office in downtown, so I wanted to make them full of drama but easy to take care of. The pinnacle of trio is a vase that I had my eyes on for some time, and was more than thrilled when I finally had the opportunity to play with it. Even though they were not all headed to one particular office, I wanted to do them up as a series so I played curves of the glass and repeated elements within the three. Each plays with different mixes and varieties of bromeliads, tillandsias, ferns, pothos; unique or notable elements would be the fantastic bromeliad guzmania, the ficus elastica, and the trunking dracena. I also threw in some trailing pilea, some begonias, and some nerve plant for colour.

Close up of The Bromance: The Pinnacle

Again, these are mixtures of exclusively tropical plants that like to be kept moist and in bright indirect light. The one with the orange and white bromeliad may require less watering (maybe once a week)than the other two as it is more enclosed, but again, it's something you should casually keep your eye on. Generally I recommend that customers spritz their terrariums once or twice a week to keep the humidity up, but also to keep the plants looking their freshest. This is especially true of maintaining anything with maidenhair ferns--those little buggers really don't like to be dry at all, and will die very suddenly if they aren't kept in a humid environment!