Our story
Green Mirrors is perhaps the perfect example of how a passion can bring together some of the most different people. With different backgrounds, different ages, professions, and lifestyles.
This is us - Bogdan, Cristi, Diana, and Mihai (still, to be in line with the historical truth, Diana and Mihai are married and have a teenage child, a dog and a cat, in addition to the several hundred plants they grow , but for the sake of the story).
Four people living their lives in a European metropolis; lives like all other lives, lived on fast-forward in a city full of noise, car exhaust, dust, construction sites and buildings built in the parks, excessively groomed trees, excessive traffic. Many buildings and many cars. A city where you are so used to this crazy rhythm and the cement landscape around you, that it becomes a conditioned reflex (and sometimes a kind reminder written on the walls) to look at the sky.
Not that the situation is as gray as it may seem at first reading (well, it's not too far off), but what we want to point out is the fact that this urban context probably contributed a lot to the development of the passion that unites us - growing plants.
There are many terms for what we do, especially in English, from "plant lovers" and "plant addicts" to "plant collectors", but most likely we are just normal plant breeders who discovered this passion a few years ago. And yet this not-so-extraordinary preoccupation has brought us down a road we started walking together almost half a year ago, a road whose destination is a dream – every house in Romania to have at least one plant and someone to take care of it - and we're marking the first milestone today: the launch of the online store with the first Mossarium Collection, Grow a Dream.
[Heads up: “Accessories” and “Plants” sections coming soon]
Why mossariums? For many reasons:
The first and most valid of them all - because mossariums are the best starter for a new plant breeder. If we were to refer to the experience we have accumulated in all these years since we have been indoor gardening, the best thing you can do as a new plant breeder (please, we all started with ONE plant) is to limit your chances of killing it. Which happens, most of the times, because of too many good intentions, backed-up by too little science/experience in plants.
Our mossariums limit this risk, because they are closed ecosystems, able to satisfy the moisture needs of the moss inside. In addition, the growing lights available for every product on our online store solves the need for natural light, making our mossariums suitable to be placed anywhere in the room, independent of the window position and orientation. Basically, the Green Mirrors mossariums only need light approx. 12h/day, airing once every few days and a few splashes of water, depending on how humid the atmosphere inside the terrarium seems to be.
The second reason is quite related to the first and has to do with the moss and its unbelievable survival capabilities. Moss is the oldest plant on planet Earth, with a history of 450 million years (and that means many millions of years), and during this time it developed some truly extraordinary abilities. There are over 20 thousand different species of mosses documented, growing in very diverse environments. We've all seen patches of moss growing on various rocks, on the bark of trees, even in the urban environment, in the shaded areas of sidewalks. This fact is possible because of one (and essential) thing: unlike most existing plants, moss does not develop roots. It feeds exclusively from the air and the more easily dispensable (zero roots), the more effective it is. We will do a separate blog post about the moss and its incredible capabilities (because, after all, this is a text about the Green Mirrors team and the goal that guides us on this path), and close this subject by telling you there is no risk of overwatering the mossJ
And last but not least (if you forgot, since many lines have been written since then, we were talking about "Why mossariums?"), because of the aesthetics we propose. We were influenced in the creation of the biophilic design by the Asian art of terrariums, which promote a sober, minimal aesthetic, turning the moss species inside into the main actors of the scene and the mossarium itself into a design object that can have both an aesthetic role, as well as a practical functionality (we, for example, are testing the Green Mirrors mossariums as bedside lamps or night lights in the child's room).
We'll stop here for now (this section will contain many updates in the future), thanks for sticking with us!
Green Mirrors Team
This is us - Bogdan, Cristi, Diana, and Mihai (still, to be in line with the historical truth, Diana and Mihai are married and have a teenage child, a dog and a cat, in addition to the several hundred plants they grow , but for the sake of the story).
Four people living their lives in a European metropolis; lives like all other lives, lived on fast-forward in a city full of noise, car exhaust, dust, construction sites and buildings built in the parks, excessively groomed trees, excessive traffic. Many buildings and many cars. A city where you are so used to this crazy rhythm and the cement landscape around you, that it becomes a conditioned reflex (and sometimes a kind reminder written on the walls) to look at the sky.
Not that the situation is as gray as it may seem at first reading (well, it's not too far off), but what we want to point out is the fact that this urban context probably contributed a lot to the development of the passion that unites us - growing plants.
There are many terms for what we do, especially in English, from "plant lovers" and "plant addicts" to "plant collectors", but most likely we are just normal plant breeders who discovered this passion a few years ago. And yet this not-so-extraordinary preoccupation has brought us down a road we started walking together almost half a year ago, a road whose destination is a dream – every house in Romania to have at least one plant and someone to take care of it - and we're marking the first milestone today: the launch of the online store with the first Mossarium Collection, Grow a Dream.
[Heads up: “Accessories” and “Plants” sections coming soon]
Why mossariums? For many reasons:
The first and most valid of them all - because mossariums are the best starter for a new plant breeder. If we were to refer to the experience we have accumulated in all these years since we have been indoor gardening, the best thing you can do as a new plant breeder (please, we all started with ONE plant) is to limit your chances of killing it. Which happens, most of the times, because of too many good intentions, backed-up by too little science/experience in plants.
Our mossariums limit this risk, because they are closed ecosystems, able to satisfy the moisture needs of the moss inside. In addition, the growing lights available for every product on our online store solves the need for natural light, making our mossariums suitable to be placed anywhere in the room, independent of the window position and orientation. Basically, the Green Mirrors mossariums only need light approx. 12h/day, airing once every few days and a few splashes of water, depending on how humid the atmosphere inside the terrarium seems to be.
The second reason is quite related to the first and has to do with the moss and its unbelievable survival capabilities. Moss is the oldest plant on planet Earth, with a history of 450 million years (and that means many millions of years), and during this time it developed some truly extraordinary abilities. There are over 20 thousand different species of mosses documented, growing in very diverse environments. We've all seen patches of moss growing on various rocks, on the bark of trees, even in the urban environment, in the shaded areas of sidewalks. This fact is possible because of one (and essential) thing: unlike most existing plants, moss does not develop roots. It feeds exclusively from the air and the more easily dispensable (zero roots), the more effective it is. We will do a separate blog post about the moss and its incredible capabilities (because, after all, this is a text about the Green Mirrors team and the goal that guides us on this path), and close this subject by telling you there is no risk of overwatering the mossJ
And last but not least (if you forgot, since many lines have been written since then, we were talking about "Why mossariums?"), because of the aesthetics we propose. We were influenced in the creation of the biophilic design by the Asian art of terrariums, which promote a sober, minimal aesthetic, turning the moss species inside into the main actors of the scene and the mossarium itself into a design object that can have both an aesthetic role, as well as a practical functionality (we, for example, are testing the Green Mirrors mossariums as bedside lamps or night lights in the child's room).
We'll stop here for now (this section will contain many updates in the future), thanks for sticking with us!
Green Mirrors Team