Journal

Making a jam jar 'terrarium' of crocus

At the beginning of Spring, garden centres and florists fill up with little pots of bulbs - all full of promise and ready to do their thing.

I like to pot these up and have them around the house. My favourites are the tiny bulbs - like crocus and grape hyacinths - which can be grouped together on windowsills or tables - a moment of joy as you pass. They can then be planted out in the garden as soon as they have finished flowering indoors.

This little 'terrarium inspired' arrangement is made in a large jam jar, which I think used to have gherkins in it. The important thing is that you can get your hand into it so that it is easy to position your bulbs. If you don't have a suitable jam jar a plain glass vase or storage jar works well too.

You need

• large jar
• small pots of bulbs
• moss (do not pick from the wild, if you don't have any in your garden use more grit instead)
• horticultural grit/fine gravel
• compost
• spoon

1. carefully put moss in the base of the jar - I use moss peeled from the edge of our lawn.

2. Add in a layer of grit - this does two things. It holds down the moss and it creates a reservoir which will hold water away from the base of the bulbs so they don't drown if you accidentally overwater.

3. Carefully take the bulbs out of their pots and put nestled into the gravel. Depending on the size of your pot you may need to carefully tease the bulbs apart so you can fit them in. Add in as many bulbs as you can and use the spoon to add compost into the gaps.

4. Use the spoon to slide more moss down the side of the jar to hide the bulb roots. If you don't have moss trickle grit down.

5. Water very gently. You want there to be water at the bottom so that the roots can reach it, but you don't want the bulbs to be sitting in water. The moist moss will help regulate this.

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