Terrarium has become such a well know term that the majority of people I interact with at our market stalls know something about the term or at least how it works to some extent.
I love seeing the excitement awaken in passersby... "hey babe, look there, its those things... you know its like a ecosystem in a bottle".
You then realize that opposites do attract as the average response from the other half usually goes something like... "those things won't survive, this guy is trying to sell us dreams".
I absolutely love watching this scenario play out..
But then, some couples are both amazed and feel that they have to ask me how this poor plant could ever survive in an enclosed bottle and how many times a week it needs to be watered.
I remember the first accidental video I saw of a well known terrarium builder making the most amazing terrarium build in such a tiny confined space.. it blew my mind. Landscaping in a bottle with a pair of long tweezers. Oh and lots of patience.. Job well done indeed.
Getting back to my original point, yes, the first terrarium was discovered by accident in 1842.
A gentleman by the name of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward enjoyed observing insects so he placed a cocoon on some soil in a glass jar. Little did he know that there was a fern spore in the soil he placed in the jar.
Long story short, eventually a fern sprouted in the sealed jar and he was obviously overjoyed. Now, this is where I can relate with Nathaniel as any fern he ever attempted to grow before that point failed horribly. I can not for the life of me successfully grow any fern in the garden. So Nathaniel, I feel your joy as the first fern I ever successfully managed to replant was from the garden to a terrarium.
With Nathaniel's invention of the terrarium, it was named after him... Wardian Case. He earned it.
Thank you sir for stumbling across this amazing invention that brought so much joy to so many lives.
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