A Bottled Garden, 66 Years Strong
On Easter Sunday in 1960, British hobbyist David Latimer placed a few cuttings of spiderwort (Tradescantia) into a globular ten-gallon glass carboy with a bit of compost and a quarter-pint of water. He sealed it with a greased cork stopper and set it near a sunlit window.
In 1972, twelve years into the experiment, Latimer opened the bottle to give the plant its second and final drink of water. He sealed it again, and it has stayed that way ever since.
More than 66 years after planting, the carboy remains the world’s longest-living closed terrarium (Tropical Glass, Wikipedia).
Does It Still Exist?
Yes. The sealed bottle garden continues to thrive. Aside from occasionally rotating the vessel so all sides receive indirect sunlight, Latimer has left it completely untouched.
He has noted plans to pass the heirloom down to his children, or donate it to the Royal Horticultural Society so it can continue to be preserved and studied.
The Science of a Closed World
The carboy requires no fresh air, no fertilizer, and no added water. The only external input is light:
Small pieces of the wild
A few things from our shop for anyone who reads to the end of a nature story.
Pocket Terrarium / Self Sustaining Miniature Ecosystem
A sealed moss world under a cork lid, made by hand in New York.
$11
Complementary Color Grow Kits
Half pint grow kits from Modern Sprout, from sunflowers to cactus.
$7.50 
Field Studies Vol. III: The Rare Ones (Set of Four Printable Art Prints)
The four rarest trees on Earth as letterpress prints, an instant download.
$6
- The Water Cycle: The plant drinks through its roots, releases moisture through its leaves via transpiration, and lets condensation gather on the glass walls to rain back down into the soil.
- The Carbon Cycle: Photosynthesis produces oxygen and sugars by day. At night, plant respiration and soil bacteria breaking down fallen foliage consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide, feeding the next morning’s growth.
It is a complete, self-regulating biosphere running on a continuous loop.
The Same Loop, 1.5 Inches Tall
From the Shop
Things we would keep for ourselves
Latimer’s carboy holds ten gallons. Our Pocket Terrarium stands 1.5 inches tall and runs on the same closed loop: real moss over lava sand, stones and soil, sealed under a cork and fed by nothing but daylight. TERRART NYC makes each one by hand in New York City, and like Latimer’s bottle, it asks almost nothing of you.
They are $11 each, or $9 each when you take three or more. They are the kind of thing that comes in threes anyway: one for your windowsill, two to give away. Keep one, give two!
If you would rather keep your moss underwater, the Rose Quartz Marimo is a living moss ball resting on raw rose quartz in a corked jar. Everything else that grows is on our Plants & Terrariums shelf.
