Green on a Stick

"Everyone can make a little garden of their own indoors," writes Caitlin Atkinson in her preface to Plant Craft. As a garden photographer and former merchandiser and floral designer for an urban garden store, Atkinson has had a lot of practice bringing green indoors. Here she shows you how to turn Rhipsalis into a piece of indoor garden art.

Taken from Plant Craft © Copyright 2016 by Caitlin Atkinson. Published by Timber Press, Portland, OR. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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Materials:

• Presoaked sheet moss (soak it overnight before you begin the project)
• Two varieties of 4-inch Rhipsalis
• Clear monofilament (fishing line)
• Large piece of wood or branch with a curved L-shape, about 4-feet long
• 22-gauge florist wire
• Scissors
• Wire cutters

Step 1

Place the sheet moss on a work surface, moss side down.

Step 2

Ease the Rhipsalis out of the pots by gently squeezing around the containers. Knock any loose soil off the root balls.

Step 3

Center the two plants on the sheet moss. If it looks like you need a bit more soil, add a little bit back to the plants. You want to end up with a ball somewhere between the size of an orange and a grapefruit.

Step 4

Cut three 5-foot-long pieces of monofilament.

Step 5

Fold the moss around the root ball. If you have too much moss, you can pinch some off.

Step 6

Holding the moss tightly around the root ball, begin wrapping the fishing line around it. Crisscross the monofilament around the moss, wrapping tightly and tying off each piece, until the moss and root ball are secure. Cut more monofilament as needed for a secure wrap.

Step 7

Tie off the monofilament and trim the ends.

Step 8

Secure the ball to the curved part of the branch with floral wire, wrapping it tightly around both the branch and the ball one or two times. Once the ball is secure, adjust the ball and plants until they look like they're resting comfortably in the crook of the branch.

Care:

Prefers bright, indirect light. To water, remove the moss ball from the wood, then hold it under water until air bubbles stop coming out of the moss. Return the moss ball to the branch once it stops dripping. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings.

Use:

Prop up against a wall or get creative and hang it from a wall or suspend it from the ceiling.