Founder Jan Zainal started making terrariums at home after chancing upon them at a nursery in Puchong (All photos: Low Yen Yeing/The Edge)
In 19th century England, entomologist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward tried to cultivate ferns at his house, but London’s unpredictable weather, coupled with pollution from the city’s booming coal industry, made it impossible for the plant to grow. Years later, he had his eureka moment when a baby fern sprouted inside a glass jar he was using to hatch a chrysalis.
Originally called Wardian cases — named after the inventor — terrariums were a sensational discovery in Britain, as nature lovers were finally able to nurture a healthy miniature garden — that would have otherwise been stunted in their backyard — within an enclosed container. This successful germination of plants inside a sealed vessel meant that explorers could bring home live vegetation from the world over, introducing a wide variety of species alien to their country and people.
In modern times, terrariums find their place in rooms or on office desks of urban dwellers who are not exactly battling toxic air pollution, but struggling to find time and space to develop a meaningful connection with nature amid a busy lifestyle and land-scarce areas.
Taman Hati in SS2, Petaling Jaya, has stepped in to solve this problem by offering terrarium workshops for those keen to learn about the ecosystem. This plant studio and café began as a leisure pursuit for founder Jan Zainal, who started making terrariums at home after chancing upon them at a nursery in Puchong about a decade ago.
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“My father passed away in 2015, so I quit my job to spend more time with family. At the time, this was more of a hobby. Friends who knew about it would say, ‘You should teach this because people would be interested in making it, too.’”
Learning the ropes via Google and YouTube, she was not confident about providing such a service. “But an opportunity came up through a friend who told me Airbnb was looking for someone to conduct terrarium-making classes for its hosts. That was my first corporate client and we had a session with 25 participants. Immediately, I had to register Taman Hati as a formal business.”
Along the way, on top of selling plants and conducting occasional terrarium classes, Jan collaborated with a pop-up coffee bar to open a shared space in Bangsar between 2020 and 2022 before tapping into F&B to diversify her products and services. “This year, my focus is to host more workshops and, essentially, go back to my roots because that’s how I started.
“I always like doing workshops; they are more rewarding than just selling plants because you get to interact with those who are interested in learning more about nature. I’m quite passionate about sharing the importance of having plants and giving lessons on building terrariums — the type of plants to use, how to plant and care for them.”
While Taman Hati has been steadily holding such workshops on a monthly basis since its inception in 2016, Jan intends to broaden her customer base to include corporate entities. “Nowadays, corporate clients are looking for more holistic workshops that focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance), which programme providers like us can curate for them.
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“Many of our patrons come from very stressful industries such as banking, accounting and IT. A terrarium workshop gives them the chance to get away from their hectic schedule and turn to something creative and relaxing. The whole process is not demanding as you’re focusing on only one thing. You’re not looking at a screen or listening to somebody giving a pep talk on team building. It’s just you and your plants.”
It does not take too much time either. “Some activities like batik painting need three hours to finish. For this, you get to take home a simple creation after an hour. If it’s more complicated or the container is bigger, maybe it will take two to three hours.”
Besides helping you destress, terrariums are a way to educate yourself on paramount life lessons, Jan says. “Terrariums may be easy to care for but because they continue to evolve, they will not stay the same forever. You will need to trim the plants and remove dead leaves. It’s almost like having a pet. You get to know what different kinds of plant species require to flourish.
“For children, it’s fun because they get to see the evolution of the plant. It teaches them about growth and sustainable living because terrariums represent nature on a smaller scale.”
For those who want to purchase a terrarium as a gift or make one at home, Taman Hati also sells DIY kits that come complete with the required tools and plants.
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As Jan speaks about going back to her roots, she emphasises the importance of community, a prime factor that ensures business longevity. Besides forging meaningful connections with regulars who visit the café, Taman Hati teams up with other local enterprises for F&B offerings and additional attractions in the shop, which continue to evolve with time and demand.
“When I first started, I didn’t know how or where to display my products but I was blessed with friends who let me showcase my stuff in their cafés. So, supporting home-based sellers is my way of giving back to the community,” she says.
The studio has also partnered organisations such as RefugeForRefugees for the Dari Dapur campaign to raise awareness about the plight of refugees through food. “One of the biggest takeaways from the pandemic is we cannot do everything on our own. Collaborations help bring different groups together and increase brand awareness organically,” she says.
Currently, Taman Hati has been working with homegrown fashion label +sukha to launch festive collections, including for the upcoming Hari Raya season. A dedicated space in the shop will be transformed into a pop-up display in March for +sukha’s products, and customers get to browse its apparel while indulging in greenery accompanied by the furry presence of resident felines, Biggie, Se7en, Mocha and Jenny.
This article first appeared on Feb 17, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
