~ With garden show season just starting next week, I’m reminded of all the great miniature gardening that I’ve enjoyed at the Philadelphia Flower Show over the years. This one is par-ti-cu-lar-ly awesome from 2015. Meet Robert Dekker, my super-hero:

~ A funny thing happened the other day at the Philadelphia Flower Show. A fellow miniature gardener from the Miniature Settings Exhibit told me about this booth in the show with huge wall displays that were filled with a miniature gardens, complete with a working waterfall and creek. She was very impressed and it was something I needed to see. When I sought out the booth, I saw Robert Dekker’s name tag and immediately said, “Hey, I know you!” Can I say it’s a small world within the miniature garden world? Robert had called us a few times during his experimental stages and now I finally know what he was talking about. They were gorgeous.

Robert and his son, Stephen, have spent the last few years developing and growing very impressive indoor miniature gardens – really living works of art. His background is full-sized water-scaping and you can tell that it has translated well into his miniature work. Every plant and rock is placed just so-so-perfectly in the mini landscape built inside a bookcase-type hutch adapted to hold the water reservoir and pump for not only the waterfall and creek, but a timed, self-watering system too.

Did you get that? The whole piece is a self-contained miniature forest for indoors. Wow. It would be absolutely perfect in a large living room, waiting room or lobby. I want one.

But what left the most impression on me was the serene, comforting feeling that the garden gave me when I walked into the booth. The world dropped away and I could feel the presence of nature that only a large, fish-filled aquarium could deliver. It was so peaceful, serene and, well, completely magical. Who needs a TV when you have one of these?

Note that the plants Robert has used is a mixture of indoor and outdoor plants. The ground-layer plants are a combination of Mini Brass Buttons and Baby Tears that can he has nurtured to handle the year ‘round indoor temperatures. The trees are mainly outdoor plants that he has trained to grow in this particular environment. Robert spent years of experimentation with different combinations of fluorescent and LED lighting to get to this stage. He was careful to consider the type of light that would shine into the room too. In other words, he’s thought through everything!

See more photos and get in touch with Robert through his website at www.Plantaria.net. He is based in the New York / New Jersey area. If you get the chance to see these works of art in person, I would highly recommend it.

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