Shh...The Fairies are Sleeping!

The air smells crisp and clean. Outside, everything is quiet. Shadows play jokes on you against the miniature plants and trees, filling your imagination with stories of trolls and tigers. And summer’s warmth hangs in the air, long after the sun has gone down. Have you ever ventured into the miniature garden after dark? At nighttime, fireflies dance between the leaves—or are those fairy lights? Insects sing sweet midnight songs—or are those the voices of pixies? Take a walk through the fairy garden at night, and you are bound to discover secrets beyond your wildest dreams.

First up on our miniature garden tour is the patio planters, which usually bloom with colorful flowers and foliage. In the daytime, these containers add light and life to the patio, but at night, if you look very closely, you will see that they make the perfect home for sleepy fairies. One is curled up inside a miniature Hosta plant. Another is caring for a baby fairy, singing lullabies to the moon.

Next, we will make our way over to the hanging baskets. Peek inside, and you will be surprised to see more than String of Pearls. Behind the miniature plants, a teeny-tiny bed holds a grumpy troll. If you listen, you might even be able to hear his snores! Be sure to take a look inside each of the mixed containers and hanging baskets, as garden residents love to doze off inside and behind miniature plants. And watch where you step! Ground cover plants make a soft bed for gnomes, who sleep with their beards curled around their bodies. Chilly nights call for warm beard “blankets,” I suppose!

Do you smell that sweet scent? One section of the miniature garden has been turned into a relaxation area, perfect for visiting just before bedtime. The delicate scents of lavender and lemon balm waft over the entire fairy garden, helping wee ones prepare to float off to dreamland. The fairies are sipping chamomile tea and relaxing under the branches of an evergreen miniature tree. Lanterns decorate the branches, attracting other garden residents like squirrels and foxes. Two miniature trees with strong trunks have a hammock strung between them. Inside, instead of a sleeping fairy, a family of bunnies has nestled in, all snug and tight, for the night.

In the main miniature garden, planted in the yard, fairy houses are all closed up for the night. Strings of fairy lights make a crisscross pattern over the paths and garden stones. Some have even been strung up on a miniature pergola. They light up the fairy tea time area and create a night light of sorts for young fairies who are afraid of the dark. Yes, fairies can get nervous at nighttime! That is why so many of them can be found curled up under leaves, sleeping beneath miniature trees, and making their beds atop miniature ground cover plants.  

There is something special about the miniature garden that slowly calms the spirit and relaxes the mind. Oh, to be a fairy resting your head on a flower petal, drifting off into sweet dreams and soft snores! The glow of a fairy garden is magical indeed. I do hope you get to visit the nighttime miniature garden one day soon. Happy Gardening!