Petite, pretty and DIY, terrariums are back
to get interested.”
Terrariums are hot. Many major retailers — not just gardening stores like Home Depot — are selling them. Some Ikea and West Elm stores, for instance, have offered build-your-own kits full of electriccolored rocks, tiny animal figurines, moss and popular succulents — hearty plants adapted to live with little light or watering. Likewise, terrariums have a devoted following on many social media websites, such as Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook, where plant lovers exchange pictures, ideas and opinions of the miniature glass gardens.
The latest terrarium trend took off in the beginning of the decade, according to Maria Colletti, author of “Terrariums — Gardens Under Glass: Designing, Creating, and Planting Modern Indoor Gardens” (Cool Springs Press, 2015).
“Everyone thought it would be a phase and even drizzle away,” Colletti said. That wasn’t the case. Colletti, who teaches classes on terrarium building through the New York Botanical Garden, said terrariums’ portability and low maintenance make them greenery mainstays that are here for the long haul.
“What could be better for an office or home to have a bit of nature where we view our miniature green world every day of our lives?” she said. “As our electronic digital world’s requirements increase, terrariums remind us of the larger wonder of the planet we live on, Earth.”
Terrariums date at least to the early 19th century.
They enjoyed a pop culture moment in the 1970s, said Megan George, author of “Modern Terrarium Studio: Design and Build Custom Landscapes with Succulents, Air Plants and More” (Fons and Porter, 2015).
George and her mother own a Durham, N.C., plant shop called Zen Succulent, where customers can partake in a DIY terrarium bar. Today’s terrariums are different, she said.
“The terrariums in the 1970s were in large globes that sat on the floor — they might have a large base to it,” George said. “People are living in smaller spaces now, and they want something that fits on the tabletop; something that also functions as decor.”
For Swetha Ramachandran, 28, of Boston, who attended Plant Nite, a terrarium’s appeal is simple.
“They’re cute,” she said, matter-offactly. “And I like the containers they come in.”