Hi. I received a gorgeous terrarium for a wedding gift and am trying to figure out what I will put in it. It's a glass cloche bell jar terrarium with a terra cotta base - looks something like this. It's not very large - maybe 4 or 5 inches in diameter. This is a new venture for me and I am excited to give it a try but I don't really know where to start. I poked around this forum for a bit and found a lot of stuff about aquariums and things but didn't easily find anything that seems to relate to this type of terrarium. So - does anyone have experience with this type of terrarium that they would like to share? Seems like everything will have to fit in the base and stand up on its own since I will have to assemble it before putting on the lid (also I'll have to be able to remove the lid periodically without the whole thing falling apart). I've seen pots inside these but I was really hoping to build a real terrarium - will this be possible?

Just a bit about me and my house in case this helps answer questions: I have a reasonable green thumb, have a few orchids now that are doing well and can keep most any house plant alive no problem. So, I am not afraid to do medium to high maintenance if I need to - though to tell the truth I'd rather not have to fuss every day. Our house is rather large and there are a few spots that get direct morning sun, but the rest is indirect light all day. My orchids like the sunny spot and there isn't much other room there, so that wasn't my favorite idea for the terrarium location. I was thinking of either a lower light spot like my window box over my kitchen sink (where I can enjoy looking at it daily, of course there would be incandescent light at night when we are using the kitchen) or a medium light location in my dining room (with more light at the end of the day). Which would be better?

I will probably buy a book on terrariums in addition, so if anyone has advice on a good guide, I would appreciate that as well. Thanks in advance!