Terrariums -- miniature tabletop gardens
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Terrariums have been around for a long time. The history of terrariums can be traced to the Victorian era in Europe or even further back to the Greeks over 2,000 years ago. The invention of terrariums is credited to Nathaniel Ward, a 19th-century London doctor, who had an interest in botany. He realized ferns that he had difficulty growing in the polluted London air were thriving in his enclosed insect jars. He spread the word of his miniature greenhouses and then published a book in 1842 entitled "On The Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases". The cases he used were called Wardian cases and can be purchased today.