Tuesday afternoon, Great Bend Public Library Communications Specialist Michael Adamyk shared how to build a colorful terrarium to a group of Great Bend Youth at the library’s teen room. The program Terrestrial Terrariums was an opportunity to get creative building a miniature garden under glass — or at least inside a glass — to take home. 

Succulents are some of the most common plants in terrariums, Adamyk shared with the youth, because they don’t need a lot of root space, and they don’t need a lot of water. In fact, when they are watered too much, they tend to shrivel or turn mushy and brown, according to the helpful take-home care instructions he provided. 

Each participant selected a glass container, and filled it part way with soil created to meet the needs of cactus. Student picked from a variety of cactus and succulents and Adamyk demonstrated how to unpot them, break up the root ball, and carefully insert the roots into the medium in the container. 

Once the plants were transplanted, the teens inserted a layer of colorful aquarium gravel, bright green moss, and colorful glass and shiny alien figurines for an out of this world masterpiece.  

Terrestrial Terrariums is one of the activities offered through the library’s summer reading program “A Universe of Stories,” with an emphasis on all things outer space. 

Wednesday afternoon, Flights of Fancy, a juggling program, is coming to the library at 2 p.m. At 4 p.m., jugglers Jay Cady and Leslie Seifert-Cady will present a juggling workshop (for those who seek the skill to put objects into orbit).