My Fairy Gardens

I got hit by the garden fairy bug last year about this time.  Previously I had seen them, thought they were cute, but didn’t really think they were for me.  Then when I was visiting Morris Landscaping in New Hampton, I saw a different brand of fairies that I really liked.  They are Woodland Knoll fairies.  I like the look of these better than any fairies I have even seen.  What I really-really love is that there are boys too…many are featured with dogs.  I ended up jumping in with both feet and now I am a fairy garden girl.

Here are a couple examples of the fairies that are the Woodland Knoll series.

Last year when Kalissa was pregnant with Carver, I ended up finding this one and really want it.

That’s when I discovered My Fairy Gardens online.  Here’s a link-I made the link to the Woodland Knoll fairies but they handle LOTS of other brands too.  I’ll warn you..it’s a big site with LOTS to see.

The charm of fairy gardens is to take succulent plants and other plants, plant them and create a home for the fairy figurines.  I know it sounds silly if you aren’t into it but, if you are, you completely understand.  It’s a little bit like playing with a dollhouse for adults only in a garden setting.

As I said I started them last year.  At the time, Kalissa thought she was going to do it too but this year, with Carver here, she petered out.  I kept her pots and planted them.  Should she want them again, they are her’s.  I opted to do the gardens in containers.  I bought matching ones on clearance.  The ones along the top are mine…five matching pots.  Kalissa’s are the two to the right and the childcare kiddos share three that are rectangular.

I’ll give you a little tour of each of them.  This is the biggest one….

My fern in the back is a little rough.  It didn’t winter over the best.

Jade plants work really well.  This one winter over fantastically.

This is the tall one in the middle.  I love the fairy flying on the bird.  I discovered a trick to get the fairies who have a prong that needs to be inserted into the ground.  Previously the dirt wasn’t the best at holding them in place.  I’ve learned to use the green foam stuff that florist use.

I cut a piece and bury it.  Then I cover it with dirt…no one is the wiser and the fairy stays in place.  I did that with the flying fairy and also with the swing.

This is the smallest one and the childcare kiddos favorite.  It has a little jar of pixie dust in the gazebo.

This one I added way at the end of the last year.  This pot matched mine but I found it somewhere else…it was like 80% off.  There’s a boy fairy fishing with his dog….

This one is Kalissa’s that I planted.   The pots are similar in that they are the same size and same glaze.  Her’s are a gold color, mine..blue.

She has birds watching over a fairy baby …and a cute mom fairy helping a boy fairy learn to walk…

Here’s a closer picture of it.

Her other one has this cute fairy on a swing.

The green one here is “L”‘s garden.  They come up with some crazy things.

I didn’t buy the breakable fairies for the them.  Instead I got these from Amazon.  Here is the link for them. They are plastic and have cute names like Buttercup.  I bought two sets and the kids share them.

The two oldest each have one of the rectangle gardens and the others share one….they aren’t as interested.  If they ever do become more interested, I’ll add more.

One thing I did different this year that so far I am VERY excited about is add real flowers to the gardens.  I can’t remember the name of the flowering one in the back.  I think it belongs to the succulent family.  I am completely thrilled by the moss roses (the yellow flowers on the front left).  The produce big (on this small scale) flowers.  They spread and don’t need a lot of water much like succulents.  Best yet, a pack was extremely cheap.

The childcare kiddos liked them so much that they asked me to buy some for them.  I checked the nursery where I got mine but they were out.  I ended up at Wal-Mart and they had them for $1.88 a pack….PERFECT for adding a little natural color the the pretty little gardens.

It’s a fun little hobby.  I pick up a fairy or a plant at times.  Tradition at our house is go out on the back patio after supper and chat.  When we go I take in my fairy garden.  Sometimes I move a fairy…sometimes I see a weed.  I am always checking out how they are growing.  It’s addicting really.  It’s very relaxing and now that they are planted, there is very little maintenance.   Pinterest is LOADED with fun ideas of things that can be made for a fairy garden.  So far, I’ve not made anything…I like mine to be plant loaded and less accessory loaded.  I did cut a bunch of wine corks for the girls to use to make side walks for their gardens.

I am hoping that this fall I’ll start a few babies from these and hopefully not have to purchase as many plants in the spring…but if I do, that’s okay.  I get a lot of enjoyment from my fairy gardens.