Five Fanciful & Fun Fairy Garden Ideas

Summer is slipping by too quickly!  I don’t like reminders of fall’s approach to creep into the summer months of July and August, yet the kids are heading back to school already, and fall decorations are out in craft stores.  I like to extend summer – my favorite season – as long as possible, so today I’m sharing my fairy gardens I planted in May and have been enjoying ever since. There is still a lot of summer to look forward to – warm weather, late season garden blooms and the State Fair in August, so my goal is to enjoy it all and steer clear of everything pumpkin spice until September.

Unicorn Dreams

Unicorns and rainbows!  This new fairy garden design is the one I was most excited to make this year.  I was inspired to create this colorful fairy garden when I found the unicorn, pennants and rainbow slat bridge while shopping with my friend Wendie toward the end of summer last year at Rosie’s, one of our favorite local garden centers.  We both bought unicorns and bridges, and later I found the large rainbow in the dollar spot at Target.  The tent and glittered fairy in the blue and green dress are from Michael’s, and I found the gazing ball at the Indiana Flower & Patio Show.  The beautiful sitting fairy wearing pink and blue and sign that says “Leave a Little Sparkle Wherever You Go” were purchased on Amazon.  Later I found the baby unicorn at local garden shop Allisonville Nursery, and he was a cute addition to the bridge thanks to the pick he’s perched on.  I’ve really enjoyed this colorful garden.  The peach colored Lewisia in the back behind the rainbow was gorgeous in May and June and the blue star creeper planted front left was so pretty once the blue flowers bloomed in late June.

Gnome Friends

I always like to feature gnomes in at least one of my miniature gardens, and this year I have three gnome gardens.  For this garden, I incorporated three unique new pieces I had to have when I saw them, and the rest were from a gnome garden I created last year.  The new pieces are the circle of four gnome friends who look like they are playing ring around the rosie, the gnomes’ get-away cabin, and the large mushroom group that provides a shady spot for gnomes to relax.  I love how the gnome home has a rugged natural look to it and a door that opens and closes, plus a mailbox.  I put my napping gnome inside the cabin. The gnome friends circle was my inspiration for creating the entire garden.  I love the older pieces too, especially the gnome drinking coffee and the stone look gnome birdbath.

Garden of Merriment

This colorful gardening themed fairy garden features figures from artist Mary Engelbreit’s Merriment line of fairies and fairy garden accessories.  I planted pink Lewisia, orange ice plant, and sea pink (thrift) to add even more color.  I transplanted the two hens and chicks by the stepping stones from another fairy garden they’d been planted in last year.  I made a fairy garden similar to this one last year, but added a few new pieces this year including the mailbox, bees (another birthday gift from Wendie), tomato plants, and bird feeder.  The tulip chairs and daisy table set, and hanging basket are my favorite accessories in this garden.  Of course Eva the garden fairy is my very favorite part of this mini garden!

Fairy Nature Park

For this garden I mixed three new pieces with four I used in a fairy garden last year. The new pieces are the cute fairy on a leaf swing Wendie gave me for my birthday, the fairy with bunny under the flower umbrella, and the adorable bridge.  I found the last two accessories at the Indiana Flower and Patio Show.  I like how all the pieces go together even  though they were from different sources.  Unfortunately the plants in this garden didn’t do so well once I moved it from a shady spot to full sun.  I’ll have to remember not to do that in the future!  Also, I didn’t realize the raspberry sedum in the back would get so big!  I can relate to the fairy with the flower umbrella enjoying the rain.  It’s been such a hot, dry summer here in central Indiana that I’ve celebrated every rare rainy day we’ve had.

Gnometown USA

This fairy garden was an afterthought.  After planting all my fairy gardens, I still had leftover plants I hadn’t potted, so I quickly planted them together in a flower pot and waited for inspiration to strike before adding figures later.  I realized the little gnome garden figures my mom gave me for my birthday would be perfect in this container.  You can see the original design below, compared to the finished product when I added the two houses in the back my mom gave me later.  I rearranged the layout to accommodate the houses.  My “afterthought” gnome garden actually turned out to be the mini garden where the plants thrived the most!  Even after two months of scorching temperatures, it’s even more verdant than it was two months ago!  None of the plants were affected by the heat or died back in the late summer.  I love all the bright colors and fun figures this garden is filled with.  It’s a good example of a thrifty garden too.  The four gnomes are from Wal-Mart and the other accessories are from Dollar Tree.  (Another frugal fairy garden tip: buy perennial plants.  Some of them will come back the next year even if you leave them in containers.  For a higher overwintering success rate, transfer them into the ground in the fall, and then replant them in your containers in the spring.)

For more fairy garden inspiration, check out these blog posts about three more fairy gardens I made this year:

• Red White and Bloom patriotic themed garden
• A Secret Garden perfect for children
• Gnome Sweet Gnome broken pot garden

Enjoy the rest of your summer!