Fairy Garden Fun for Tiny Gardeners

Fairy gardens are like miniature playgrounds, so naturally they’re ideal for kids as well as adults.  I thought it would be fun to make a fairy garden for my friend Rebecca’s daughter Abbie, because she loves fairies and has enjoyed looking at fairy gardens since she was just over a year old.  Most fairy garden figures are made of breakable resin or other fragile materials though, or contain sharp metal pieces.  So I was really excited to find a line of figures designed for young children at my local garden center called the Flower Fairies Secret Garden collection.  The sweet little fairies are made of durable flexible plastic and based on the classic poems and stories of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker.  They stand on leaf bases and their wings glow and shimmer in sunlight.  Abbie was only two last year when I planted her first fairy garden, but she’s really good about not putting tiny pieces (or plants!) in her mouth, plus she loves miniature toys, so the little garden was perfect for her even at that age.  Last year she was really interested in touching all the different textures of the plants and watering her garden, and this year she even started trimming her garden to work on her scissor skills!  She’s a much better fairy gardener than I am, as she gets concerned when the fairies get too dirty from the soil and gives them baths.  Her plants have thrived both years, and it’s amazing to see her develop a green thumb at such a young age.

The two fairies in Abbie’s garden are Buttercup Fairy and Strawberry Fairy.  (Follow the links to see how much the fairy garden figures look like the original drawings, and read Barker’s darling poems.) Buttercup Fairy comes with a separate little basket of raspberries she can hold in her hand.  Strawberry Fairy holds a strawberry in each hand and has a leaf basket full of more strawberries that sits on the ground.

I also got her two accessories last year: the signpost with “Fairy Crossing” and “Garden” markers and the stepping stones that say Love, Wish, Sing and Believe.  Last year I planted her fairy garden with miniature Mexican heather (the small shrubby plant with pretty magenta flowers in the back that grew taller as it filled in), Scotch moss (gold green soft carpet-like plant in the front, which has tiny white flowers in the spring), sweet alyssum (pinkish purple flower on the right that thrives in spring), and burgundy shamrock (with yellow flowers, on the left).

This year I added two new accents – the mailbox and notes, and the fairy door.  There are three pieces of mail which fit inside the mailbox and match the nature theme, as the package, note and envelope are all variations on packaging made from leaves. The door opens on its hinges for the fairies to walk through.  The flowers planted in Abbie’s fairy garden this year are: bird’s foot trefoil in the front, Limerick Jessica Trifolium on the left, lavender sweet alyssum on the right and creeping thyme in the back behind the fairy door.

I mean, look at this adorable gnome princess!

You’re never too young – or old – for fairy gardens!  Here are a few adorable photos of Abbie before she had a fairy garden of her very own.

Have a magical summer!