Experimentation is what draws me to gardening.

Exploration is what defines for me both gardening and travel. Here's how I try to bring something back to daily life from each trip!

Step 1: The Inspiration

Beach combing is an enjoyable way to take in the landscape while on vacation. It is always great to find free souvenirs!

I find it a pleasure to walk out along the beach but then to survey the area where the sand meets the trees. You'll often find resilient plants that are perfect for terrariums and can survive indoors.

In this instructable you'll see how I use water bottles to bring home plants!

Step 2: The Bottles

Water bottles are everywhere!

They make a perfect container for transplanting your finds. They are available on vacation and at weddings ----see the Seagrams bottle.

Moisture - keep your transplants from drying out. Sometimes I add some material to help hold moisture. Other times I simply add some water and drain each day.

Step 3: Opening Your Bottle

When you get home you just need to perform a basic operation.

Careful if you're using a blade. Easy to also use a scissors.

Step 4: Planting

The jade plant shown in the first photo is my most successful transplant. It was only two inches when I brought it back from New Orleans a year ago. Now it's about 8" and thriving.

More difficult to maintain plants that require lots of sun through out MN winter but you can see how I set up a sort of terrarium for the little beach flowers.

Step 5: Eucalyptus Example

A recent wedding in Chicago provided a few eucalyptus cuttings.

Eucalyptus is a popular green used in modern wedding displays.
It is also popular for kids who enjoy the stimulating scent. Wild how popular the eucalyptus scent has become for home remedies even at a steep price!

In the photos you can see how I go from fresh cuttings to an outdoor planter with a number of herbs. I stripped leaves away from the stem to allow damaged sections for roots. Even better if you have some rooting hormone to help stimulate growth. In my experience it doubles the number of starts that succeed.

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Hope you find this instructable useful!
As always, my goal is to remove the hurdles from simple projects.

I put together this recent how to for getting started with a window greenhouse.