From this week's Business of Life
Finer Things: Green spaces thrive in own little worlds
By: Jennifer Olvera February 11, 2008

Gallery owner Judy A. Saslow cultivated a suburban garden before moving to Streeterville, so she was pleased to find an unusual way to indulge her green thumb in the city.

"I've always been addicted to plants," says Ms. Saslow, who owns an eponymous River North gallery. "Now, my bedroom is filled with foliage."

Last spring, Ms. Saslow saw a nature-themed exhibition at David Weinberg Gallery in Chicago. Hanging blown-glass terrariums filled with tillandsia, which grows without soil by taking nutrients and moisture from the air, caught her eye.

"They were so bizarre, the shapes so out of the ordinary," Ms. Saslow recalls. "And they were suspended from a clunky metal chain. That was a wonderful counterbalance to the delicate glass vessel."

She bought one of the quirky, bulbous terrariums ($560) for her bedroom. "I hung it in front of my window — frankly, to help block the view," she laughs.

The terrariums were designed by Wicker Park artist Meghan Q. McCook, 30, whose small, asymmetrical pieces are part of an ongoing series. They sell for up to $800 apiece (www.glashjartaglass.com).

Inspired by the Victorian penchant for growing miniature, self-contained ecosystems, Ms. McCook's terrariums are among the collector-worthy, artist-designed pieces popping up locally.

Manhattan-based landscape-artist Paula Hayes designs and cares for her own dreamlike, blown-glass creations for up to a year, then sells them to art dealers, architects and designers.

Ms. Hayes' futuristic, blown-glass biospheres ($8,000 to $22,500, www.paulahayes.com) — which were showcased in an exhibition at Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago last spring — incorporate everything from gems to recycled materials.

"People have an emotional response to caring for these little worlds," Ms. Hayes says of her tabletop creations. "That's especially true when you live in an urban environment where it's hard to experience, much less interact with, nature."

Chicagoans who prefer a DIY approach can head to Sprout Home (745 N. Damen Ave., 312/226-5950) for tillandsia, succulents, mosses and ferns (about $10). The store sells terrarium-esque vases ($40 to $60) and assembled terrariums ($46 and up).

"You do need to know what you're doing when caring for certain ecosystems," cautions Catie Trudeau, 27, indoor-plant manager and landscape designer at Sprout.

Ms. Trudeau noted, for example, that moisture-loving plants require a container with a charcoal foundation to filter impurities from water. Some plants require bright light, while others thrive in low-lit conditions. Certain varieties should be misted rather than watered directly, while others periodically must be removed from their containers and soaked in water.

She steers first-timers toward tillandsia because it's easy to care for yet visually striking. "They look like undersea creatures," she says.

If you're too worried about a brown thumb, the eye-catching vessels can be displayed plant-free, too.

"I don't know how a bird would feel about living in a glass house, but I'll find out," says David Weinberg, 63, who purchased one of Ms. McCook's terrariums to hang outside his second home in Wisconsin. "The way the glass distorts everything on the other side is terrific."