Category: Garden

Mossarium: what not to do

On By CarynIn Garden

I have a beautiful terrarium with a lift off lid that I originally intended for growing mushrooms. Well, it wasn’t quite big enough for that, so I put some plants I was rooting out inside. The plants grew and bumped into the top and looked crowded, so I started thinking about what else I could do with the container, a mossarium maybe? Mossariums are terrariums with a variety of mosses as the focal feature of the arrangement. Some have a few plants as well, but it is mostly moss. I have a fantastically gnarled root ball that I thought would make a fantastic hardscape for the moss. I soaked it in RO water, gathered moss from the back yard, and made a pretty cool looking arrangement.

Photo description: black base of the terrarium filled with dirt, rocks, a large twisted and soaked piece of wood with layers of moss and dirt

Turns out soaking the wood was the wrong idea. In that very moist enclosed atmosphere, the mold spores had a heyday.

Photo description: same mossarium setup, now covered with spiderweb-like mold spores

I tried cleaning off the strands of mold, but each day they renewed. Then I read that it helps if the soil and hardscapes in a terrarium are sanitized before assembly. Hm.

I disassembled my mossarium, cleaned the container and wood, then boiled the wood for an hour. To get it to dry out, I put it in the oven at 225 for an hour, then let it cool. It took three hours-long cycles in the oven to get the majority of the moisture out. I washed all the stones with soap and hot water and set them to dry. I’ll try a slightly different, dryer setup next time.

Our meadow

On By CarynIn Garden

The Spring wildflowers are showing off in our meadow.

Photo description: horsemint, cutleaf daisy, and Indian blanket in the foreground, our coop and deer ornament in the mid ground, and the post oak and cedar elm of our wood in the background
Photo description: closeup of horsemint with a scattering of cut leaf daisy and Indian blanket flowers

Now, down the hill, hidden by those flowers is mostly grass. I’m not sure what happened to the flowers that used to come up there, although it could have been the heat, or the freeze, or the wet, or a grass roots take over. I might throw some extra seeds down back there and see if we can’t get something more started.

Iris

On By CarynIn Garden
Photo description: three white bearded iris blooms

Iris that my Dad replanted at the back of our meadow three years ago or so have bloomed! The rest of the meadow is filled with tall grass, but we are only mowing the edges in hopes that our Indian blanket and basket flowers come up again.

Japanese Honeysuckle

On By CarynIn Garden
Photo description: Japanese Honeysuckle mound with yellow and white blooms growing about 8 foot high

Once again I lament that I can’t provide you with smell-o-vision with the Spring honeysuckle blooms. Although, you might not be happy with me if I did assault your senses with this; it is more like being kicked in the nose than a gentle waft of perfume. The smell in Spring is nearly overpowering and very sweet. It smells great from the road, but going out the front door gets you an olfactory ambush.

Currently the Japanese Honeysuckle is the only visible plant in the mound (there is a metal arbor under there somewhere). There was, and may still be, some native honeysuckle lurking in the shadows that has yet to bloom. The native on the corner of our fence did not fair well and has not come back after the heat of last summer and the freezes of winter. Japanese Honeysuckle is considered invasive and grows very, very well here. It was planted on the property before our purchase, and does have medicinal and craft use, so it is allowed to stay. I do need to rein it in though.

Bluebonnet patch

On By CarynIn Flora, Garden

We have our own bluebonnet patch!

Photo description: grassy clearing with leafy trees in the background.

It looks like an April Fools joke, but it really is a bluebonnet patch. Here is a photo taken from another angle:

Photo description: sparse bluebonnets in a field of green, taken at a ninety degree angle from the first picture.

There are more bluebonnets in this area than last year; we’ve had a wet spring. Some of my neighbors’ yards are breathtaking with their bluebonnets. I’m hoping this patch continues to thrive and expand. We won’t mow it until late summer, when the state starts to mow its wildflower filled roadsides.