Fairy Gardens For Little Girls
How to Create a Magical Place Where the Fairies Are
Starting Up
The following items are some of the things that are essential for a child’s fairy garden:
- Toadstools - you can use ceramic ones and these will encircle the fairy garden to create a magical fairy ring
- A garden arch - this will create the magical opening into the fairy ring. If you take a section out of each side of the arch, it will then be child-sized. No adult will be short enough to enter
- Wishing jar -use an old pickle jar with a lid. Fill it with little snippets of paper or parchment and a small pencil, so children can write their wishes on them
- Offering Dish - a pretty old china saucer (especially one with a flower pattern) can be placed in the garden and children can put flowers and their wishes here as offerings to the fairies
- Water - for the fairies to drink from. Either a bowl or a bird bath can be used. Depending on the size of the container, water lilies can be added.
Location
First of all, you need to find that special little nook in your garden to position your fairy garden. Ideally, the garden needs to be tucked away safely somewhere. Also, a place that is in partial shade is good. Fairies need to feel safe, secure and hidden from grown ups. The key to a successful fairy garden, is to keep it within the scale of a small child. The paths should be narrow enough only for children to walk through and everything should be within easy reach.
Six Plants That Fairies Like
- Apple - the apple tree in Welsh traditions has been associated with the Otherworld. The fae can use it as a portal into your garden. Try planting a dwarf variety or track down the Rose Apple. This plant is suited to frost-free environments, but produces lovely, golf ball sized fruit.
- Ferns - Ferns have long been associated with fairies, originally because they were thought to reproduce from invisible seeds. Many people believed that if you could collect these invisible seeds, they would inherit supernatural powers. Nowadays, we know that this seed is in fact called spores. But your child need not know this just yet, let them indulge their imagination and send them out to find some fern seed.
- Lily of the Valley - In fact any small bell shaped flowers will do. These are the flowers used to dress the wee folk. They also have the added advantage of being a bulb. To a small child, these plants appear to grow magically every year from nothing.
- Nasturtium - These plants make great ground cover for the fairies to hide in. Their leaves can also be used by the fae for umbrellas and boats.
- Snapdragon - These plants appeal to all children. Every child loves to squeeze these flowers to make them roar. They are the fierce dragons that not only protect the fae, but provide their transport.
- Sweet Pea - grow these up and over your arch. This plant is most often associated with the Cicely Mary Barker series of Flower Fairies books and according to the author, sweet peas are ideal for making fairy bonnets. There are also some tentative links that can be made between this plant and the Princess and the Pea fable.
So now that you are armed with this information, it is time to get out there in the sunshine and help your child create her very own special space - just for her and the fairies. If you have little boys also, why not try an Archaeological Garden for them too!
Reference: Themes for Herb Gardens by Kim Fletcher
Published by Viking (A division of Penguin Publishers)
ISBN: 0 670 90675 1
