When the winter wind howls, and the ground lies frozen under a blanket of white, nothing brings more pleasure than getting your hands around a bit of growing green. In this project, we'll be creating a miniature landscape under glass.

Now commonly called terrariums, these tiny garden creations owe their invention to one Nathanial Ward, a Victorian physician and amateur naturalist, whose discovery of the terrarium was purely accidental. Ward's field of study was actually insects, and in the late 1830s, he was curious to better understand the life cycle of the sphinx moth. In order to investigate this creature more thoroughly, Dr. Ward anchored a stick with a cocoon attached in some garden soil at the bottom of a sealed glass container. Like most un-sterilized soil, his dirt contained various weed seeds that eventually sprouted. While Ward wasn't surprised to note the seeds' germination, he felt sure that they would soon perish, as scientific belief at the time held that plants needed ventilation to survive. To his amazement, the greenery flourished, and soon the curious doctor became more interested in flora than fauna. He experimented with a wide variety of plants in containers, for which he became quite famous. Ward's publication in 1842 of his opus magnus, On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases, cemented his reputation, and soon these enclosures became known as Wardian Cases, the forerunners of today's terrariums.

Glass gardens quickly became popular in the most tasteful and elaborately furnished Victorian houses. Many were designed of iron, copper or wood - some were even finished with delicate enamel and gilding. Hardly a home was considered complete without one. Then after the turn of the 20th century, terrariums, like all things Victorian, fell out of style, only to be revived briefly in the 1970's, when they became so common that nary a trip to the grocery stores could be completed without bumping into numerous brandy snifters planted with african violets and miniature gnomes. This influx of terrible examples was enough to kill the fad again until fairly recently, when the terrarium's ease of care, combined with the introduction of numerous interesting dwarf species ideal for growing under glass, served to bring these wonderful miniature landscapes back into fashion.

SO HERE'S HOW YOU GET STARTED

PLANTING TIPS

First of all, you should sterilize your container by running it through a dishwasher, or cleaning it thoroughly with hot, soapy water with a touch of bleach, making sure to rinse well. Allow the container to air dry. To begin, place an inch or two of drainage material, such as crushed rock, pebbles, or broken clay pots on the bottom of the container. You may wish to use a funnel made out of rolled up newspaper to prevent the materials from spattering on the sides of the glass. Next, lay several inches of sterilized, commercial, soil-less potting mix over the drainage material. (Don't use soil from your garden, or you will replicate Dr. Ward's experiment and its interloping weed seeds.) When you're done, depending on the vessel, the soil should rise to about 1/3 - 1/2 of the overall height.

Next, carefully place your plants. For one-sided containers, position those that will grow the tallest in the rear; those meant to be seen from all sides, should be placed towards the center. If you've chosen a small-necked container, you will need to use a special set of tools that you can make yourself with old silverware taped to chopsticks.

Then, insert any desired decorative features such as gravel, rocks, or interesting bits of moss or wood. Remember, the idea here is to create a landscape in miniature, so don't be afraid to be inventive.

Finally, water thoroughly (but gently) after planting, just enough so that the soil is saturated, but not completely soaked. A sprayer or turkey baster works well for this purpose. (A baster is also a great tool for getting any loose soil off the sides of the glass, as well as sucking up an excess H₂O if you got carried away with the watering.) Once planted, terrariums are remarkably self-sufficient when it comes to needing water, and often weeks or months will pass in a tightly sealed container without requiring any additional moisture. In large-mouth containers, you'll know it is time to water when the soil feels dry to the touch. Small-necked containers are trickier to judge, but if the soil appears dry, or moisture no longer beads on the top of the glass, water lightly. Feed your plants with a water-soluble fertilizer once a month, removing any dead leaves or excess growth at that time.