A florarium, as the name suggests, is a plant terrarium. This is what various flower arrangements or individual plants placed in any glass containers: regular glasses, aquariums, bottles, jars with lids, decanters and so on.
If you strictly follow the definition, then a florarium is “a plant composition in a glass container.” But most often they are simply called “bottle gardens,” although it is not at all necessary to use bottles.
By the way, florariums are great for decorating small apartments, as they are quite compact and will take up much less space than massive flowerpots or tubs with tall plants.
Flowers in an aquarium will look no less picturesque than fish. Perhaps your child has already experienced his passion for aquarium keeping, but the vessel remains? Use it to create a florarium!
Compact florariums take up minimal space on a windowsill or table, and look much more impressive than a regular cactus pot
How to arrange a florarium
The arrangement of a florarium includes several stages:
- Selecting a suitable container. Its dimensions should correspond to the area of the room itself.
- Choosing a location. Florariums can be floor-mounted, table-top, wall-mounted or hanging. It is not at all necessary to place a plant terrarium near a window - you can take care of artificial lighting or choose shade-loving plants. By the way, its composition will depend on the location of the florarium. So, if he stands against the wall, then small parts and flowers should be placed in front and tall ones in the background.
- At the bottom of the florarium there must be a layer of drainage - sand or expanded clay, otherwise the plants will constantly be in water and disappear. A plastic grill can replace such a layer.
- Soil, preferably purchased, prepared, is poured over the drainage layer. The choice of ready-made soil mixture depends on the type of plants you plan to plant. The soil layer usually does not exceed 5–10 cm.
- After planting the plants, the florarium is decorated using elements such as shells, pebbles, pebbles, driftwood, pieces of glass, and so on - the choice of details depends only on your imagination.
- If you are creating a truly large-scale plant terrarium, take this task seriously. If your glass container is closed, you should ensure that you have devices such as a thermometer, hygrometer, fan and artificial lighting. This will allow you to control the temperature and humidity in your indoor greenhouse while also providing your plants with fresh air and light.
- If the florarium is set up in a bottle with a narrow neck, it will be convenient to fill the soil and drainage layer through a funnel made of thick paper, and the plants will have to be planted using long tweezers.
By the way, if your plant terrarium is large enough, you can not plant the flowers in the ground, but arrange them in separate pots, building shelves, installing ladders and the like.
The container itself can also be further decorated, for example, acrylic paints or varnish, which will give the composition additional charm.
As an option, you can consider arranging a florarium display on the windowsill. In this case, the role of one wall of the terrarium will be played by the window glass itself. True, if the window faces south, not all flowers will be able to survive in the sun. And it will be difficult to take care of the window itself. But amaze passers-by beautiful garden in the window.
Setting up such a simple florarium in an open flask or aquarium does not take much time. With practice and preparation, you can handle this in literally half an hour - this is how long it usually takes to transplant a flower into a larger pot
What plants should you choose for a florarium?
The choice of plants for a florarium depends on its size, location and characteristics of the container. So, for a plant terrarium that will be located away from windows and other light sources, forest cacti, for example, zygocactus, popularly known as Christmas or Decembrist, as well as ferns, are suitable. For a florarium located in a sunny place, it is better to use orchids, bromeliads and other flowering plants that are suitable for greenhouse conditions.
If your “bottle garden” is dry, with appropriate soil, you should choose agaves, succulents, Crassula, euphorbia, cacti - these plants do well without frequent watering and can withstand dry wintering.
Wet florariums require the presence of moisture-loving flowers, such as fittonias and violets. Of course, moisture-loving and “dry” plants, shade-loving and sun-loving plants should not be mixed in one container.
A good choice for a plant terrarium would be a miniature bush of azaleas, cyclamen, Usambara violets, begonia, different types Crotons, Cryptanthus.
And if you love the exotic and are ready to feed your flowers with live insects, choose sarracinia or sundew for your florarium - in the greenhouse atmosphere of the “glass” they will feel right at home.
Mosses and lichens can also become inhabitants of florariums. They are unpretentious, take up minimal space, so they can grow even in a small glass or glass
Features of care
The main advantage of florariums is that the glass container provides the flowers with a special climate and protects them from drafts and temperature changes. Plants in such “green” terrariums need to be watered less often, but the container itself needs careful care - the glass will have to be washed several times a month, as traces of drops remain on them, and the florarium will look unkempt. In addition, you should follow the watering schedule and provide ventilation so that the glass does not fog up.
Orchids in a plant terrarium will feel just fine once they become the best decoration interior
Caring for a “bottle garden” is not so difficult - you should water it carefully, being careful not to overwater or leave excess splashes on the walls, wash it regularly, using a bottle brush for bottles with a narrow neck, and also wipe the outside of the glass from dust
Ideas for arranging a florarium
If you want to create not just a plant terrarium, but a thematic composition, we offer you the following ideas:
- Desert in a bottle. For such plant terrariums, sandy soil is used - a layer of about 10 centimeters. The sand should be pre-sifted. One or two beautiful pebbles will serve as decoration. Cacti, milkweeds and agaves will feel comfortable on such soil.
- Mountains. Experts advise making such a florarium high so that a sufficiently wide layer of soil can be laid. Pebbles and stones are laid out on top of the ground, forming a real alpine slide, only a miniature one. Ficus, ivy and succulents are suitable for a mountain plant terrarium.
- Jungle. For a forest florarium, you should use mixed soil: peat and leaf soil, you can add a little coarse sand. In such a plant terrarium you will have to maintain high humidity. The jungle florarium is planted almost completely with plants - low on the front edge and high on the back wall. For this “garden in a bottle” option, moisture-loving plants are suitable, for example, Liviston palm, pilea, coleus, asplenium.
- "The Lonely Knight" In such a florarium there will be only one plant, preferably bright and blooming, for example, a beautiful orchid or a lush violet bush.
- Thematic composition. If you add details such as a model of a ship, a house, a miniature fence, animal figurines to a plant terrarium, you will get a composition on the theme “sea”, “village”, “forest edge” and so on - it all depends on your imagination and the availability of the necessary decorative elements items.
Florarium-desert. All that was needed to create it was sand, a few pebbles and plants that do not need a lot of watering.
The composition in a plant terrarium will be perfectly complemented by figurines, figurines and other decorative details
From three or four small florariums you can create a whole composition that will decorate your table or windowsill. You will get a real “bottle garden”
As you can see, setting up a florarium is not that difficult and even inexperienced gardeners can do it.
PLANT KINGDOM: HERBS.
COMPOSITION WITH FLOWERS AND BIRDS
Implementation of program content in educational areas : « Cognitive development», « Speech development», « Artistic and aesthetic development».
Types of children's activities: cognitive-research, musical, communicative, visual.
Goals : consolidate knowledge about herbs; generalize the knowledge that on our planet there is a huge kingdom of plants: trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants; continue to introduce children to folk arts and crafts; learn to create a decorative composition in a certain color scheme(warm or cold) ; consolidate the ability to work with the whole brush and its end, to convey shades of color; develop aesthetic perception.
Targets preschool education : determines the genre of the musical work listened to, its mood and character; recognizes and names wild and garden flowers, herbaceous plants; has an understanding of medicinal plants and the benefits they bring to humans; performs decorative drawings with flowers and birds in different ways.
Materials and equipment : audio recording of the work “Waltz of the Flowers” by P. I. Tchaikovsky; photographs of herbs; white paper(or tinted) slightly larger than a piece of paper, a simple graphite pencil(for bird sketch) , watercolor.
Content
organized children's activities
1. Introductory word from the teacher.
A recording of the work “Waltz of the Flowers” by P. I. Tchaikovsky is playing.
– Thumbelina invites you to a flower meadow.
2. Introduction to herbs.
– There are many legends about the appearance of flowers on our planet. Here is one of them: in ancient times, the Mother of Cheese Earth lay in darkness and cold. And one day Yarilo - among the ancient Slavs the god of the sun, earth and fertility - pierced with the flame of his gaze the layers of darkness above the sleeping Earth. The red sun immediately shone, giving light and warmth to the awakening planet. She greedily drank the generous rays of the sun, basked in her youthful beauty, brimming with life-giving strength. Then Yarilo said: “Oh, you goy, Mother of Cheese Earth! Love me, God of light. For your love, I will decorate you with blue seas, yellow sands, blue rivers, silver lakes, green grass, scarlet, azure flowers...”
This is how flowers came to Earth. Since then, every spring Yarilo awakens from his winter sleep, mounts his horses and decorates Mother Earth with flowers and grains, revives fields, meadows, groves and dense forests. A striking manifestation of the love for flowers are flower festivals held among different nations. Let us remember the holiday of Ivan Kupala that existed in Rus'(Ivan Travnik) . While this holiday lasts, you need to do a lot: jump over the fire, wash in life-giving waters, collect herbs, which only gain special healing powers on Kupala. And you also need to drive the herd through the coals in order to rid the cattle of all ailments. Well, the bravest ones will wander into the thicket in search of a fern flower. Whoever gets it will easily find any treasure.
– Guess riddles about herbs and flowers.
White fluffy ballI show off in an open field.
A light breeze blew -
And the stem remained.(Dandelion.)
These are wonderful flowers
Unprecedented beauty
Bright, fragrant...
Ah ah ah! Prickly!(Roses.)
There is a curl in the garden -
White shirt,
Heart of gold -
What it is?(Chamomile.)
At least Alena is hiding
Behind a green branch,
But red cheek
Visible from afar.(Apple.)
White peas on a green stem.
(Lily of the valley.)
– Flowering plants not only delight us with their beauty, but also help us when we are in pain. There are many books about the medicinal properties of plants. But every family has its own recipes that are passed down from generation to generation.
3. Decorative drawing “Composition with flowers and birds.”
– Let's create a decorative composition with flowers and birds in warm colors. What paints will you use? What is the best way to arrange the sheet? What drawing techniques will you use? How to depict a thin flower stem: with the tip of a brush or with the entire bristle?
Children create their own decorative composition.
4. Summary of the lesson.
– Consider all the drawings and choose the most expressive and neatest. What did you depict in the composition of the drawing?
A florarium, as the name suggests, is a plant terrarium. This is the name given to various flower arrangements or individual plants placed in any glass containers: ordinary glasses, aquariums, bottles, jars with lids, decanters, and so on.
If you strictly follow the definition, then a florarium is “a plant composition in a glass container.” But most often they are simply called “bottle gardens,” although it is not at all necessary to use bottles.
By the way, florariums are great for decorating small apartments, as they are quite compact and will take up much less space than massive flowerpots or tubs with tall plants. Flowers in an aquarium will look no less picturesque than fish. Perhaps your child has already experienced his passion for aquarium keeping, but the vessel remains? Use it to create a florarium! 
Compact florariums take up minimal space on a windowsill or table, and look much more impressive than a regular cactus pot
How to arrange a florarium
The arrangement of a florarium includes several stages:
Selecting a suitable container. Its dimensions should correspond to the area of the room itself. Choosing a location. Florariums can be floor-mounted, table-top, wall-mounted or hanging. It is not at all necessary to place a plant terrarium near a window - you can take care of artificial lighting or choose shade-loving plants. By the way, its composition will depend on the location of the florarium. So, if it will stand against the wall, then small details and flowers should be placed in front, and tall ones in the background. At the bottom of the florarium there must be a layer of drainage - sand or expanded clay, otherwise the plants will constantly be in water and disappear. A plastic grill can replace such a layer. Soil, preferably purchased, prepared, is poured over the drainage layer. The choice of ready-made soil mixture depends on the type of plants you plan to plant. The soil layer usually does not exceed 5–10 cm. After planting the plants, the florarium is decorated using elements such as shells, pebbles, pebbles, driftwood, pieces of glass, and so on - the choice of details depends only on your imagination. If you are creating a truly large-scale plant terrarium, take this task seriously. If your glass container is closed, you should ensure that you have devices such as a thermometer, hygrometer, fan and artificial lighting. This will allow you to control the temperature and humidity in your indoor greenhouse while also providing your plants with fresh air and light. If the florarium is set up in a bottle with a narrow neck, it will be convenient to fill the soil and drainage layer through a funnel made of thick paper, and the plants will have to be planted using long tweezers.
By the way, if your plant terrarium is large enough, you can not plant the flowers in the ground, but arrange them in separate pots, building shelves, installing ladders and the like.
The container itself can also be additionally decorated, for example, with acrylic paints or varnish, which will give the composition additional charm.
As an option, you can consider arranging a florarium display on the windowsill. In this case, the role of one wall of the terrarium will be played by the window glass itself. True, if the window faces south, not all flowers will be able to survive in the sun. And it will be difficult to take care of the window itself. But amaze passers-by with a beautiful garden in the window. 
Setting up such a simple florarium in an open flask or aquarium does not take much time. With practice and preparation, you can handle this in literally half an hour - this is how long it usually takes to transplant a flower into a larger pot.
What plants should you choose for a florarium?
The choice of plants for a florarium depends on its size, location and characteristics of the container. So, for a plant terrarium that will be located away from windows and other light sources, forest cacti, for example, zygocactus, popularly known as Christmas or Decembrist, as well as ferns, are suitable. For a florarium located in a sunny place, it is better to use orchids, bromeliads and other flowering plants that are suitable for greenhouse conditions.
If your “bottle garden” is dry, with appropriate soil, you should choose agaves, succulents, Crassula, euphorbia, cacti - these plants do well without frequent watering and can withstand dry wintering.
Wet florariums require the presence of moisture-loving flowers, such as fittonias and violets. Of course, moisture-loving and “dry” plants, shade-loving and sun-loving plants should not be mixed in one container.
A good choice for a plant terrarium would be a miniature azalea bush, cyclamens, Uzambara violets, begonias, different types of crotons, and cryptanthus.
And if you love the exotic and are ready to feed your flowers with live insects, choose sarracinia or sundew for your florarium - in the greenhouse atmosphere of the “glass” they will feel right at home. 
Mosses and lichens can also become inhabitants of florariums. They are unpretentious, take up minimal space, so they can grow even in a small glass or glass.
Features of care
The main advantage of florariums is that the glass container provides the flowers with a special climate and protects them from drafts and temperature changes. Plants in such “green” terrariums need to be watered less often, but the container itself needs careful care - the glass will have to be washed several times a month, as traces of drops remain on them, and the florarium will look unkempt. In addition, you should follow the watering schedule and provide ventilation so that the glass does not fog up. 
Orchids in a plant terrarium will feel just great, becoming the best interior decoration. 
Caring for a “bottle garden” is not so difficult - you should water it carefully, trying not to overwater it and leave unnecessary splashes on the walls, wash it regularly, using a bottle brush for bottles with a narrow neck, and also wipe the outside of the glass to remove dust.
Ideas for arranging a florarium
If you want to create not just a plant terrarium, but a thematic composition, I offer you the following ideas:
Desert in a bottle. For such plant terrariums, sandy soil is used - a layer of about 10 centimeters. The sand should be pre-sifted. One or two beautiful pebbles will serve as decoration. Cacti, milkweeds and agaves will feel comfortable on such soil.
Mountains. Experts advise making such a florarium high so that a sufficiently wide layer of soil can be laid. Pebbles and stones are laid out on top of the ground, forming a real alpine slide, only a miniature one. Ficus, ivy and succulents are suitable for a mountain plant terrarium.
Jungle. For a forest florarium, you should use mixed soil: peat and leaf soil, you can add a little coarse sand. In such a plant terrarium you will have to maintain high humidity. The jungle florarium is planted almost completely with plants - low on the front edge and high on the back wall. For this “garden in a bottle” option, moisture-loving plants are suitable, for example, Liviston palm, pilea, coleus, asplenium.
"The Lonely Knight" In such a florarium there will be only one plant, preferably bright and blooming, for example, a beautiful orchid or a lush violet bush.
Thematic composition. If you add details such as a model of a ship, a house, a miniature fence, animal figurines to a plant terrarium, you will get a composition on the theme “sea”, “village”, “forest edge” and so on - it all depends on your imagination and the availability of the necessary decorative elements items. 
Florarium-desert. All that was needed to create it was sand, a few pebbles and plants that do not need abundant watering. 
The composition in a plant terrarium will be perfectly complemented by figurines, figurines and other decorative details. 
From three or four small florariums you can create a whole composition that will decorate your table or windowsill. The result will be a real “bottle garden”.
As you can see, setting up a florarium is not that difficult and even inexperienced gardeners can do it. Meanwhile, such compositions look very original and can become a highlight of interior design. In addition, caring for a plant terrarium is easy, and the desert florarium can go without watering for a month. So you can safely go on vacation - the flowers behind the glass will perfectly wait for your return.
Project
"Kingdom of Flowers"
Prepared by: biology teacher
highest qualification category
GKSOU "Special (correctional)
comprehensive boarding school
VIIIview of the city of Kameshkovo"
year 2012
“He who loves flowers cannot be evil”
Hungarian proverb
Foundation of the project
The amazing world of flowers! Thousands of flowers decorate the earth. Flowers are life itself. They have their own language, their own aroma, the power of beauty, their own history, legend, fairy tale, their own holidays. They have their own goddess - Flora - the goddess of flowers. Flora's head is decorated with a wreath, and in her hands is a bouquet of flowers.
We have become so close to flowers that sometimes we don’t even think about how amazing and perfect a creation they are. A person would probably not have enough whole life to learn the innermost secrets magical kingdom goddess Flora. But if you have attentive eyes, even the most silent flowers can tell a lot about themselves. But how? Flowers only talk in fairy tales. In life they are silent. But this silence is very eloquent.
The choice of the project topic was not accidental. While studying all kinds of plants in biology lessons, it was the diversity and beauty of the floral world that attracted the attention of the children. There was an uncontrollable desire to learn as much as possible about these beautiful and gentle creatures living in the kingdom of Flora. Just peek out of the corner of your eye through the crack of the magic door leading to this amazing country. Help, protect, and most importantly, tell others about how beautiful and majestic this world is.
As a result of long discussions and debates, we decided that we should collect information and show a presentation about those flowers that delight the human eye longer than others, about the autumn stars that decorate our already empty gardens, and came to the conclusion that the main factors determining long-term flowering of some plants are:
· time and place of planting plants in flower soil;
· respectful and careful attitude towards each individual flower;
· proper cultivation, watering and care of plants;
· possession of the necessary information about the plants that grow in your garden.
Objective of the project: teach children to love nature, instill a love of art, cultivate philanthropy in children, instill respect for work; form in children clear ideas about the diversity of the flower world, about organizing the correct and careful handling of flower plantings.
Project objectives:
· expand children’s knowledge and ideas about the flower world of our Motherland and other countries;
· to develop children’s interest in learning about new types of flowers;
· promote the development of children's creative abilities, the ability to work together, coordinating their actions.
Stage 1. Preparatory
1. Determining the topic, goal, content of the project, forming groups.
2. As a result of the “Box of Thoughts and Ideas” brainstorming, the groups “Florists”, “Flowers”, “House Residents” were identified.
3. Choosing directions for working on the project:
Group "Florists"
· Preparing a story about proper care for garden flowers.
· Conversation with specialists and knowledgeable people about how to preserve cut flowers longer.
Group "Flowers"
· Preparing reports on some types of persistent autumn flowers.
· Staging a scene.
Group "House Residents"
· Design of a flower exhibition (children's drawings, photographs, flowers grown by hand).
· School decoration.
Stage 2. Planning
Target: development of an action plan, distribution of roles and tasks in areas of activity; studying sources of information (books, encyclopedias), conversations.
Stage 3. Collection of information
Target: analysis of the action plan and data obtained, clarification of further steps for project implementation.
Stage 4. Interim discussion
Working with the collected material and its design.
Target: analysis of achieved results.
· What did you learn while working on the project?
· How did you do your job?
· Have you come up with your own ideas for continuing the project?
Stage 5. Project implementation
Purpose of the stage : direct implementation of the project.
1. Biology lessons on the topic “Diversity of the flower world.”
2. A series of extracurricular and elective activities: “In the kingdom of Flora”,
“Flowers - weather forecasters”, “Plants known and unknown”, “Flora world of the Vladimir region”, “Flower etiquette”, “Flower why”, “I was born a gardener”.
3. Conversation with biology teachers from city schools and amateur gardeners about interesting types and names of flowers, about the history of their appearance in our country, about the proper cultivation and care of late flowering plants.
4. Excursion to the “Winter Garden” of Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 1 in Kameshkovo.
5. Conducting a drawing competition “ Magic world flowers" among school students.
6. Conducting the “Autumn Bouquet” competition.
7. Conducting a competition of songs and ditties about flowers.
9. Compilation of collections: “Riddles about flowers”, “Flowers in poetry”, “Legends about flowers”, “Proverbs and sayings about flowers”, “Amazing things from the life of flowers”.
10. Writing and dramatizing fairy tales “In a certain kingdom, the Flower State...”
11. Stage 6. Project presentation
Target: present the collective work of school students.
Project presentation