An inside job

IS it nature? Or is it art? Painters and poets have long known that the furl of a fern or an orchid's architecture can qualify as both. Now a growing wave of indoor gardeners is capturing nature in miniature and under glass. Yes, terrariums are back. But they can be a far cry from the clumsy gardens grown in jelly jars, vodka bottles and fish tanks in the '70s. Back then they were a fad, like lava lamps and macrame -- and results could get pretty ugly. Today's devotees of the trend see new possibilities in creative horticulture and home decor.

High priestess of the movement is artist Paula Hayes, a New York sculptor, painter and landscape designer who has plumbed the concept of plants as portable artworks that require human interaction to survive. Hayes designs delicate, handblown glass terrariums in organic shapes that call to mind bubbles, teardrops, body parts, peanuts, pears -- all with ineffably elegant tiny gardens inside.

She coddles each for about a year until plants are established and the work is ready for sale -- for about $8,000 to $22,000. New York art critics and collectors have taken to her work, creating buzz that has traveled far beyond their ZIP Codes. The terrariums themselves are too fragile to ship. "They can't be tipped or jiggled," Hayes says. "Two clients flew from Aspen and carried their terrariums home on their laps. I'm waiting for two San Francisco clients to do the same."

Her concept of terrariums as art has grown via the Internet in the last couple of years, she says.

"Design bloggers picked up on it and spread the word. It's viral and seems to have touched a nerve," perhaps because it's a populist art form that anyone can try.

"People look at my website [ www.paulahayes.com] and at the huge cost of my work, and they decide to make their own," she says, sounding pleased. "What's magical is how you plant it, how you must always attend to it and never abandon it. It's the same as having a garden."

NOELLE SMITH, spokeswoman for Smith & Hawken garden shops, says indoor gardening has taken off in the last year or two.

"Anything that creates its own biosphere -- either terrariums or cloches (bell-shaped glass domes that sit on saucers) -- is selling well," she says. "We went from two or three styles to nine of them," she says, and sales have increased about 30% in two years.