Living Centerpiece with Orchids and Ferns
How to make a living centerpiece with Orchids and Ferns for a long-lasting tabletop garden.
In recent years, I have grown to appreciate Orchids. If you chose one correctly, you could have flowers for months! I purchase one every six months for long-lasting flowers on my mantel.
In addition to the orchids on our mantel, I like having fresh flowers on our dining room table, but buying fresh flowers every week can become costly. So, I decided to use the stalwart Orchid and combine it with another long-lived indoor plant, ferns, for a long-lasting, living centerpiece.
Table of Contents
While these two plants look beautiful together, they have different water needs. I separated the orchid from the soil holding the ferns to accommodate that. This way, I can control the water that each receives.
What You Need For a Living Centerpiece:
- I found this bowl at a local consignment store. It’s a great diameter, but I wish it had more height. I will keep my eyes open for a taller urn style and transfer the plants when I do find it. Or…I would give this one to my mom and make a new one!
- Plants: Any indoor plants will work. I would’ve loved to have some trailing ivy, but with my cat Peep, who eats anything and everything, I avoided plants that might be toxic to cats, and ivy is on that list. You can see that list here. It seems ferns are safe for cats, so I purchased three varieties of ferns (one is maidenhair fern, one is a holly fern, and I don’t know what the other is) and a small orchid.
I am all about odd numbers of things…But I spent way too much time overthinking if I should have an odd or even number of ferns or plants in total! I opted for an odd number of ferns, and I’ll probably lose sleep over that decision. 😂 But heck, if it bugs me, I’ll just add another plant!
- Pebbles
- Dirt (you can opt to put your plants in the dirt or keep them in their pots and just ‘cover’ them up with moss. I opted to plant them. I made this garden three years ago, and they are thriving, for what that’s worth.)
- Moss
- Small container for the orchid to sit in that is shorter than your bowl. Worst comes to worst, you can always cut the small container down if it is plastic.
- Of course, what is a garden without ‘lawn art’? I’m using this little bunny for whimsy in my garden.
Making Tabletop Garden:
- Add pebbles to your large bowl, with some smaller ones to the little container that will hold your orchid. Make a spot in your large bowl to hold the smaller bowl.
- Line the sides of your bowl with moss.
- Add your ferns where you want them, filling in with dirt around the plants
- Add your orchid to the smaller container, filling it with dirt around it.
- Cover the rim of the orchid ‘bowl’ and with moss, as well as other areas as desired.
- Add your ‘lawn art’!
Caring for your Orchids and Ferns Tabletop Garden:
Ferns need more water than orchids. Putting one tablespoon of water in with the orchid and watering the ferns each week provides just the right amount of water for each. Carefully water the ferns so that water doesn’t run into the orchid cup. As I said, this living centerpiece has been going strong since March!
UPDATE: After 18 months, I lost one fern before I realized I had been overwatering it. When I pulled out the dead fern, I realized there was a good deal of standing water in the bottom of the bowl. I replanted a fern six months ago and began using a water meter. I only add more water to the bowl if the water meter shows that the soil is dry and the ferns are thriving.
I know I should get about six months out of the orchid, and it will be easy to replace when it is up.
To refer to these tips for planting a living centerpiece, bookmark this page or pin the following image.
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I love this! And I have the perfect place to put one. Now to find the perfect bowl. Used to have one, gave it away because I never used it😏
Thanks Lynn💗
ARgh! Don’t you hate it when that happens! Well, just check out the consignments shops, goodwill, etc… I’m sure you will find one that someone else donates because they didn’t use it! 😂
Gorgeous! I accidentally killed my orchid when I tried to trim it to get it to bloom again but I think I need to get another one to try this.
Hi Sara, I’m still trying to get mine to rebloom…no luck yet.
This is lovely! Orchid are beautiful
Thanks Maria! I am enjoying having it on my table!
This is lovely Lynn! I have a crystal bowl that is very similar to the one you used, and it sits tucked away in a cabinet. This will be a great way to put it to use!
Hey Maureen! It was so simple to make and really is a nice centerpiece.
So pretty! Love the ferns and super cute bunny! Pinned!
Thanks Kim, It’s a great addition to my dining room table.
Depending on the bowl (if see-thru or not) you could add colored stones/potting stones to the sides and top instead of moss.
It would add to the cost but would make it special for that pink bedroom or blue sewing room!
Hi Joy
What a great idea! There are so many ways to ‘customize’ the planter. If you do make it with colored stones, please take a picture and share it with me!
Hugs,
Lynn
Instead of separating the ferns from the Orchid plants, you could have used pieces of “fern bark” cut to the shape of the bowl, placed the plants strategically, then filled the holes with sphagnum moss, or coconut coir and “dress” the top with rounded pebbles. The orchid and the ferns would welcome the same amount of watering, since the fern bark retains water beautifully – water or mist maybe once a week.
Hi Lyn,
Thanks so much for that suggestion about fern bark! I am not familiar with that medium, but will look it up. My little fern and orchid garden was relagated to my bathroom during the holidays, but I’m ready to bring it back out and give it some TLC.
Again, thanks for sharing you tips. Sounds like you’ve done this a few times!
Hugs, Lynn