My nephew went to school in New Zealand for 4 years to become a master glass blower. While going to school, he was lucky enough to have been tapped to blow all the off-shaped goblets, tankards, and holding vessels for the Hobbit movies. That has naught to do with my post, except that the first image shows the beginning stages of moss growing on stones, which are pieces of pumice he collected from a river near where he lived. When it rains, pumice pieces very large to very small come floating down the river and are free for the collecting. He brought many home with him, some I carved into interesting shapes to serve as pots. These I pressed into another form of service. The first image is from mid-summer last year.

This summer I cut down a very large pear tree. Much of the wood was stacked against the trunk and burned, but the stump was stubborn and didn't burn up entirely, forcing me to dig it up. I thought it would look cool stacked on top of the pumice stones, so that's what I did.

The moss is just starting to make some headway on the wood. I expect the stump will be fully covered by mid-summer '19. The leafy stuff mixed with the moss is liverwort, and the small plant in the middle of the image immediately above is a Ficus pumila cutting I stuck in the moss a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it's not hardy and will not survive over-wintering in my garage where it's not uncommon to find the soil of over-wintering temperate bonsai frozen solid during cold spells.

Al