There are extraordinary moss gardens all around the world where one may walk among them in deep moisture laden forests. Here, there is a small sampling of the wonders from the forest floor of our New England home.
Mosses are the ancient little plants that lack true roots and true stems. They do not have true seeds but little spores that are held in tiny fragile capsules. After all the green is gone from our surroundings, signaling the coming of winter, it is especially a feast for the eyes to bring in a collection of the mosses that abound in our woodlands.
Mosses cling to the rocks and decaying wood. They carpet consistently moistened soils, lowlands or bogs. They require water to bring together their "egg and sperm". It is miraculous that they find a way to do this on the surfaces of granite, decaying leaves and earth, as well as in between the crevices of the bark from trees.
If you choose to harvest your own mosses also collect some extra soil. Collect the rotted wood with the moss on top. Don't try to separate them. Sometimes you can scrape a moss from it's substrate such as with cushion moss from granite. Be mindful. Sometimes they cannot survive if they are separated. Do not collect all your mosses from the same place.
Fill your bowl with soil and arrange your mosses. Use a plant sprayer to mist them daily. Enjoy the harvest of greenery from the forest floor. And, you don't need a bow.
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