Am I right? Is it yellow for friendship?

It all started with this:

Two weeks ago, Chris, Anna and I went with my mother to the Fullerton Arboretum (where, incidentally, Chris and I were married all those years ago) for the annual herb sale. While my mom and I debated over varieties of basil, oregano and thyme, I suggested Chris take Anna to view the table with the enticing sign reading “Fairy Gardens.” They came away with the three above “miniature” plants and the idea that they would draw fairies to your garden.

My mother, being much more garden savvy than I, had heard something about fairy gardens before, and pointed me towards M & M Nursery, in nearby Orange. I found out, thanks to the web, that the whole idea of fairy gardens seems to have originated there, and became even more intrigued with the idea of planting these miniature vignettes filled with magic and whimsy.

So the following weekend, Chris, the girls and I headed to Orange where we eventually found the nursery and headed inside. It’s an enchanting place, as most nurseries are in the spring, full of shady walkways and bursts of color. Of course we walked the wrong way to find the fairy garden section, but if we hadn’t we wouldn’t have found these other enchanting spots within the place.

But the fairy gardens themselves! I can only hope the pictures convey the charm of the things, from tiny garden paths…

…to hidden glens…

…stately trees….

…and even underwater vistas!

Not all the fairy gardens were confined to pots, either. This is part of a large plot, perhaps 10′ square, filled with wandering paths, tiny cottages, wells and all the magical denizens you might expect in a fairy garden. (Unfortunately, this was the only decent photo that I got of this spot..taking photos in spotty shade is tricky, I’ve come to discover.)



We came away with our fairy plant collection doubled.

Yesterday, another whole week later, I finally had both the time and the energy (a necessary combination) to actually assemble our garden. I got everything ready to go:

But the girls decided they’re rather do something else instead:

Finally, I was able to drag them over to the potting bench…though because my hands were covered in dirt I didn’t manage to get any pictures of the garden in progress. I do think it came out rather nicely in the end, though:

In time, the groundcover will spread to cover all the bare dirt, I expect. It will be fun to watch it grow and change. The eagle-eyed will notice we didn’t use all the plants we purchased: we decided the Wink Garnet Dascia (with the pink flowers) was too large to fit with scale of our other plants. My mother has promised to find a nice place for it in her garden, though. Or, just maybe, we’ll have to start another fairy garden to accommodate it. I know my head is already bursting with ideas I’d like to try.



In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my eyes out for fairies!