Barnyard Dance in the Fairy Garden

Something that garden fairies are well known for is telling each other stories. These fairytales stem from real-life adventures and narratives passed down from generation to generation. Every person has childhood stories that remind them of a simpler time—a personal favorite of mine was a story about barnyard dances. I remember my mother reading it to me when I was a child, and she somehow turned the storybook into a song. When I am planning a miniature garden, I tend to tie the design to a pleasant memory or story that will brighten up my home. I have noticed that a good fairy garden idea can pop up from the most unlikely things, such as buying books for your future nephew’s baby shower. I simply could not rest until I found the book that brought me so much joy as a child, and it inspired me to create a miniature garden in its honor. 

It is already easy to convince me to use miniature gardening accessories that are bright and colorful. However, this project was effortless to get excited about, because it meant recreating a feeling of warmth and love from my childhood. I started with miniature plants to add the mood of living on a farm to the scene.  Then I added some hearty succulents such as Sedum ewersii, (also known as Pink Mongolian Stonecrop) which are flat, rounded blue-green sedums that form nice mounds for a garden space. I included a light-green ground cover to brighten up the space, such as Leptinella gruveri (also known as fairy fern). It covers larger amounts of space and almost looks like an open farm field. On this spot, I added some hardscape materials to simulate a walkway throughout the land. I did this by using "fairy mulch" to create these walkways. 

To finish off the garden, and complete my homage to a barnyard dance, I had to add garden accessories that played to my farmyard theme. I selected a bright-red barn; a small, blue tractor; a blue picket fence; a multi-colored windmill; and a few farm animals. When you arrange them precisely, you do not need a lot of space to create a big impact. Of course, I could not forget a small fairy friend: a young boy with little wings and a shovel, who fits right in on the farm. He is known as Fairy Gavin with shorts and a T-shirt, as well as a blue baseball cap that he wears backwards. It looks as though little boy spends more time daydreaming than working, but that is okay when you are a fairy! This project was a fun way to tie a memory from my childhood to a fairy garden that I can add as a centerpiece to my kitchen table and someday share with my nephew why my miniature garden’s title is, Barnyard Dance. In the meantime, the plants will receive the most sunlight on the table, until we get out of this dreary winter season and I can place my miniature garden outside on the deck. 

 

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