 PROGRAM: The Plant Lady's Guide to Indoor Gardening January’s meeting featured a presentation by Catherine Jellison, fondly known as “the plant lady,” focused on indoor plants and terrariums. Catherine, a library associate at the Crofton Community Library for more than 21 years, began by sharing the story behind the library’s plant collection. Her love of plants, she explained, began with her mother and grew into a lifelong passion. Today, Catherine cares for more than 500 houseplants at home and approximately 150 plants throughout the library, tending to the collection as part of her daily work. In 2023, growing curiosity from library visitors about the plants led to the formation of the Crofton Houseplant Club. To support learning and accessibility, the plants throughout the library are labeled with both their botanical and common names, along with QR codes that link directly to care information. This system allows visitors to explore plant information independently and at their own pace. Following the discussion of the library’s plant collection, Catherine shifted focus to terrariums. She displayed several terrariums along with a moss box, explaining how these miniature ecosystems function. She also explored the history of terrariums, tracing their origins to the 19th-century Victorian Wardian cases—glass enclosures that made it possible to transport plants long distances and grow them indoors by maintaining stable, humid environments. Catherine noted that while Wardian cases revolutionized plant transport and indoor gardening, they also had unintended consequences. By the early 20th century, scientists recognized that these cases sometimes introduced invasive insects, pests, and even plant species into new regions, highlighting the far-reaching ecological impact of transporting plants across the globe. To learn more about the Crofton Houseplant Club and view upcoming meetings, visit aacpl.net.  Comments are closed.
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