Forests in a jar from Spitsbergen
In August 2017 I visited Spitsbergen , which is the largest island in Norway. The island is located in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Sea, about 1000 km from the North Pole. It turns out that the islands are inhabited by almost three times more polar bears than people. The best time to visit the islands is summer, as the air temperature is around 8 degrees. The first sun appears in March and everything starts to come to life. In winter, it is polar night, while in summer the sun does not set at all. It’s an amazing feeling when it’s “daytime” at 2 in the morning.
As a florist, I would not be indifferent to the local flora. Upon arrival, you could see high mountains covered with only stones. Yes, you won’t find a single tree on the islands! Due to strong winds and permafrost, they would not be able to adapt to the prevailing conditions. However, at the foot of the mountains, mosses covered the soil in a picturesque way. This was the first time I saw such a variety of mosses. The colors ranged from sharp green to yellow to camo. Their structure was also different. Some are fluffy and soft, others hard and coarse. Everything was magical. However, my attention was most drawn to the white fluffy plants. At first glance, they resembled our Polish dandelions, but their flowers were much more dense.Arctic Cotton Grass , which is under strict protection. The noise of the wind, a breeze of the cool sea air and these “white fluff” – I could watch them for hours. One day we decided to climb a glacier – it’s too big a word in summer. The route actually ran along a huge strip of ice and of course … rocky mountains. Reaching the top in such conditions was not easy, but the view of the horizon rewarded all the effort. On the way back, going down the glacier moraine, we came across a large collection of fossils. We were happy like children! Amazing feeling when you find traces of leaves on an island without a single tree! It turned out that in the Svalbard Archipelago, scientists discovered the remains of a tropical forest from several hundred million years ago! Tropical forest in the Arctic!? So on the way back I was going down fascinated with a few kilogram backpack of fossils.
As you have already guessed … the fossils landed in the glass from my limited edition ” Forests in a jar from Spitsbergen “. These are unique compositions, not only because of their unique appearance, which will decorate any interior. These gardens are part of the formation of our beautiful planet! The edition is limitedand consists of 10 different magical flower arrangements. Each jar has its number and a tag with information about the fossil. The pendant also comes with instructions on how to care for this small, bustling piece of land. The care of flowers closed in glass is not complicated. Each forest has the right amount of water inside. By closing, the water evaporates and condenses, creating a microclimate. Thanks to this process, the garden does not require watering and becomes self-sufficient. Therefore, it is a great solution for people who do not have time to care for plants. It is important that a light mist forms on the walls, then we can be sure that the climate is right. If there is no such mist – open the jar and sprinkle the plants. However, if there is a lot of steam – we open the garden and leave it for a few hours to ventilate. It is also worth paying attention to the moss. There can be all sorts of dry sticks or needles in the moss that can start to mold over time. In this case, we open the forest and pull out the twigs so that the mold does not spread to the plants.
If you have any questions, I am happy to help . I also hope that the edition of ” Forests in Słoj z Spitsbergen” will bring you even closer to nature and will make your homes a piece of the Arctic Tropical Forest …
