A garden in a bottle has the same sort of fascination, and requires much the same kind of ingenuity and dexterity to construct as a ship in a bottle. But once the bottle garden is established, it can be left for months without attention; it will not even need watering.

More than a hundred years ago, a London physician named Nathaniel Ward discovered that ferns and mosses, which never grew satisfactorily in the industrial fumes of the city, would flourish if grown in the protection of glass-sided cases. It is from Ward’s experiments that bottle gardens have been developed.

Use any large bottle (a carboy is ideal), wash and dry it and, by means of a paper funnel, introduce several inches of dry John Innes potting compost No. 1, or dry soil mixed with a small quantity of crushed charcoal. Damp soil will not go easily through the neck of the bottle and will cling to its sides.

Only small plants should be introduced, for it is the planting that needs dexterity. A dessert spoon and fork lashed with wire or tape to thin bamboo canes are useful tools; they pass easily through the neck of the bottle, and can then be carefully manipulated to cover the roots of the plants with soil. Even if this is not done very efficiently, however, the plants will, after watering, soon root afresh in the humidity of the container. After planting, water is introduced by means of a tube or small can. Once planting is finished, cork the bottle tightly. The idea is to establish a completely closed atmosphere which is virtually self-watering; moisture passed off from the leaves condenses on the glass sides of the bottle and returns to the roots. For this reason a bottle garden needs watering very rarely—once a year is probably sufficient.

Stand the bottle in a good light but not strong sunlight. If its cork is fitted with a lamp holder, a bottle garden makes an excellent table or floor lamp in which the subtle beauties of a growing garden grace the room by night as well as by day.

SUGGESTED PLANTS

Plants for the bottle garden are those that naturally like close, moist conditions.

Aglaonema commutation, dark green leaves with silver-grey spots.

Begonia foliosa, a shrubby plant with small, glossy, dark green leaves.

Billbergia nutans, stiff, greyish leaves, very showy pink bracts, and purple and green flowers.

Cryptanthus bivittatus roseo-pictus, pink leaves with cream stripes, which turn light and dark green in shade.

Dracaena godseffiana, dark green leaves thickly spotted with cream.

D. sanderi, greyish-green leaves with ivory-cream margins.

Ficus pumila, dark green, heart-shaped leaves.

Fittonia verschaffeltii, a trailing dwarf with dark green leaves netted with carmine.

Maranta leuconeura kerchoveana, mid-green leaves with blotches of maroon-red.

Peperomia magnoliaefolia, mid-green leaves with an irregular cream margin.

P. nummularifolia, round, stalked leaves and creeping, thread-like stems.

P. obtusifolia, dark green, fleshy leaves with a purple edge.

Pilea mucosa, minute, blue-green leaves.

Saintpaulia ionantha, varieties have flowers ranging in colour from white to deep violet.

Tradescantia fluminensis, perennial trailer with shiny leaves and stems, and small white flowers.

Zebrina pendula, silvery grey-green leaves with a dark green margin and a purple stripe down the centre.

The following ferns are also suitable for the bottle garden:

Adiantum capillus-veneris (common maidenhair) and A. cuneatum have delicate, light green fronds.

Asplenium nidus, a shiny, dark green, strap-shaped fern.

Davallia bullata, dark green, broad, leathery leaves.

Pteris cretica, straw-coloured or pale brown fronds. Small varieties of this species are suitable.

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