Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden and
making booze in it....)

"Peter Goddard" wrote in message
...
Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden and
making booze in it....)

I didn't have much luck with my terrarium but I do remember you need to mix
plenty of charcoal into the compost to stop all the recycled water getting
stagnant.
Martin

"Peter Goddard" wrote in message
...
Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden and
making booze in it....)

I didn't have much luck with my terrarium but I do remember you need to mix
plenty of charcoal into the compost to stop all the recycled water getting
stagnant.
Martin

The message
from "Peter Goddard" contains these words:

Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden and
making booze in it....)

Be very careful when choosing. Many plants are sold as 'dwarf' when they
have just been treated with a growth-inhibiting hormone. Once free of it
and away they go!

Probably the best bet would be some small alpines. My guess anyway. I
use my two carboys for - guess what?

Hic!

--
Frère Jaques
They knocked the Bell down and erected a charade of pops.

Peter Goddard wrote in message ...
Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass
Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and
now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions
for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden
and
making booze in it....)


Probably better to choose foliage plants rather than flowering ones, I
seem to remember that peperomia and marantas are often used., you also
need to ensure that it gets plenty of light, and that the plants will be
happy in a very humid atmosphere.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

Peter Goddard wrote in message ...
Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass
Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and
now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions
for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden
and
making booze in it....)


Probably better to choose foliage plants rather than flowering ones, I
seem to remember that peperomia and marantas are often used., you also
need to ensure that it gets plenty of light, and that the plants will be
happy in a very humid atmosphere.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

Peter Goddard wrote in message ...
Back in the sixties my Mother had a bottle garden in a large glass
Carboy.
She had it for many years and never had to water, feed or maintain it.

I managed to buy a carboy for a fiver at the local car boot sale and
now
hope to recreate the bottle garden. Does anyone have any suggestions
for
suitable plants? Or any tips (other than forgetting the bottle garden
and
making booze in it....)


I've found my trusty houseplant book from the 1970s which has a chapter on
bottle gardens. It gives long lists of plants for terraria, broken down
into tropical, woodland/temperate and bog terraria.

The list for tropical is: asparagus densiflorus sprengeri; begonia boweri;
chamaedorea elegans; chlorophytum bichetii; cissus antartica; cordyline
terminalis lilliput; dizygotheca elegantissima; ficus pumila; fittonia
verschaffeltii; maranta leuconeura; nephrolepsis exaltata; pepeomia;
pellionia; pellaea rotundifolia; pilea; podocarpus macrophyluss;
saintpaulia; saxifraga stolonifera; selaginella; and syngonium.

If you need the common names, it lists those alongside the Latin. Also
gives loads of tips, soil mixtures, etc. Give me a shout if you need more.

Regards,

"Janice" wrote in message
...
I've found my trusty houseplant book from the 1970s which has a chapter on
bottle gardens. It gives long lists of plants for terraria, broken down
into tropical, woodland/temperate and bog terraria.

The list for tropical is: asparagus densiflorus sprengeri; begonia
boweri;
chamaedorea elegans; chlorophytum bichetii; cissus antartica; cordyline
terminalis lilliput; dizygotheca elegantissima; ficus pumila; fittonia
verschaffeltii; maranta leuconeura; nephrolepsis exaltata; pepeomia;
pellionia; pellaea rotundifolia; pilea; podocarpus macrophyluss;
saintpaulia; saxifraga stolonifera; selaginella; and syngonium.

If you need the common names, it lists those alongside the Latin. Also
gives loads of tips, soil mixtures, etc. Give me a shout if you need
more.

WOW!
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to post this list - now to seek out
more info and suppliers.
Regards
Peter