Very Special Valentine

Caspian, left, seen chatting with Tink.

It's been quite a while since I've sat and talked with Grace but just this morning she came to me, asking for my help. It turns out that she's been quite busy with The Fairy Bugle which is a newsletter she's been in charge of that helps keep all the fairies in the know, especially busy fairies like the Queen and distant friends like Buddy the Elf. Grace asked if I could bring my camera to the garden to capture a special moment she was tipped off on. I was eager to help and followed her, being sure to be discrete. Before hiding amidst the greenery, Grace pointed in the direction she wanted me to focus on. I looked toward a red tin container with some colorful flowers and also noticed two fairies, Caspian and Tink. I assumed this was what Grace wanted me to capture so I kept my distance and took some pictures.

It turns out that Caspian had informed Grace ahead of time that he planned to ask Tink a very important question and wanted to capture the moment in photo and story. 

Caspian pulled out a bouquet of flowers and offered them to Tink.

"These are for you," Caspian said. "I realize I get you flowers every Valentine's Day but these are a special kind of flower."

"Oh?" Tink questioned. "How so?"

"This bouquet is actually not your Valentine's gift. I admit, I didn't get you a Valentine gift this year but it was because I was planning something much better. This, Tink, is an engagement bouquet and I am offering it to you in hopes that you'll accept it, and me as your mate."

Tink immediately jumped up and down excitedly. "Of course I do! Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely, one hundred times yes!" Her wings took her up into the air and head over feet into a few aerial tumbles before she flew back down and wrapped her arms around Caspian who was laughing.

Tink took the bouquet in her arms and smiled wide, finding it hard to keep from giggling with glee. Grace came out of hiding to congratulate the two and let Tink know that this would be in the newsletter and that photos had been taken to preserve the moment. Grace and I left the two to enjoy each other's company and talk about all the possibilities the future has.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours. Did anything great happen to any of My Fairy Folks this Valentine's Day?

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Lonesome Love

This week many of the fairies are fluttering around being extra friendly, helpful and romantic. I did however notice one fairy secluded in one area of the garden. This is Alaina.

This cozy camper is a perfect home for lovers, a cobblestone path leading right to the door. But there is no one inside.

This is one of Alaina's favorite spots; her garden complete with a bench for two. Unfortunately, this Valentine's Day it will remain empty because her true love will not be home. He is out of town helping to build a home for his brother.

Alaina's love put together this swing for her so she will spend Valentine's Day with the memory of him and hope for a speedy return.

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Lovely New Purchases

I purchased some lovely decorations recently that are going to be perfect for Valentine-themed gardens. The trailer in the middle is from Hobby Lobby and is actually a birdhouse, but birdhouses make wonderful additions to fairy gardens.

Here is the back of the trailer, with a cute little flower box under the rear window.

I purchased this item at Jo-Ann's. This floral bench would help set the scene for a park or mini-garden and could even seat a fairy or two if you have the right size and flexibility.

This item was purchased at Michael's. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home and realized that the pink flowers here matched the bench I had also purchased that day. I'm always on the look out for new fairies.

Here is the rear view of the swinging fairy. Her wings are so colorful and there are pink mushrooms at the base, which is a bonus for me.

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Fairy Garden Class - Valentine-Themed Scene

It's February (wasn't it just New Year's Day, goodness how time flies!) and time for another Fairy Garden Class. This month's theme is, of course, Valentine's Day. These cherubs were found in my house and I thought they'd make a good addition to this month's container garden.

Alyssum, purchased at Home Depot. This 6 pack was under $3.00

Violas, purchased at Home Depot. This 6 pack was also under $3.00

Primrose, purchased at Home Depot. This flower was $1.50

I decided that the Primrose would make a bright, beautiful focal point in my small container garden. Based on that, I made sure to get supporting yellow and white flowers to surround it, settling on the alyssum and viola. 

This metal container is relatively new. I received it during the Christmas break full of candy and it is a beautiful, deep red that I felt would be perfect for this theme. The cherubs and alyssum are a bright white and the viola I used was a soft yellow which helped to make sure that the primrose would be the star of this garden. 

Because this will be a short-lived themed garden, I didn't feel the need to put drainage holes in this container. I don't plan to leave these plants in here for more than two months, and I made sure to keep the Primrose in it's original pot to prevent it's roots from reaching the bottom and risking root rot. If you ever plan to plant in a metal container, you'll need to drill in drainage holes yourself. If you are like me and feel you might want to repurpose the metal container for non-plant things in the future, make sure to re-home your plants within a month or two and not to over water. 

As always, place a good amount of small stones at the bottom of your container. This will help with drainage and is especially important if your container does not have drainage holes. Again, this is only meant to be a short-term home for these plants; any long-term container for plants need drainage holes at the base. These rocks will also prevent the soil from retaining all of the water and causing root rot. Since I kept the primrose in it's pot, I placed a layer of soil over the rocks, placed the primrose in the center and poured the remainder of the soil around that. This also will make extraction easier when I'm ready to move the flower to a more permanent location.

After placing all the flowers where I want them, it's now time to add decor. Here I have the cherubs to fit the theme as well as an 'iron' gate and pebbles for ground cover (purchased at Dollar Tree for $1.00). The pebbles would keep the container bright and cover up the dark soil. I then added the accenting gate and cherubs only to find that the cherubs were blocking the view of my planned main feature! I had to rethink this garden. It was obvious that I had to abandon my plan to have the cherubs and primrose in the same garden. I decided to use a different container and a taller plant so that it wouldn't be blocked by the cherubs. Since I recently brought ferns into my garden, I decided to use that, especially because I know ferns are a tall plant.

Yes, this is much better. The cherubs do not block the fern and this now looks like a quaint little park scene where two cherubs flirt on a park bench with a tall tree behind them. It was unfortunate that I didn't get to use the primrose with the cherubs, however, I'll find another use for them next week. If you have any photos of a container garden that didn't go according to plan, email them to me and a story about what happened and I may share it on the blog. 

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Fairy Garden Class - Valentine's Garden Terrace

February has long been considered the most romantic time of the year thanks to Valentine's Day. For this month's Fairy Garden Class, I ran with this popular theme focusing on the colors red and white. I began with a large terra-cotta pot, placing about an inch or two of small rocks to allow drainage before filling in the rest with potting mix. Be sure not to fill to the rim of the pot; leave an inch or two. This will insure that water and soil doesn't spill out and it also helps to give your plants support.

Once you have chosen the plants you want to use, be sure to lay them out in the position you envision prior to taking them out of their containers. This helps you to design your garden and get the spacing correct and allow you take a step back and make changes without having to irritate the plant too much. Once you're happy with your arrangement, it's time to transplant them into their new home. Here I used Alyssum for the white and some sort of red shade plant (both from Home Depot).

For this garden, I've decided to use a mushroom house as the center focus point. I have placed a small terra-cotta saucer upside down to act as a firm foundation and to keep my decorative house from getting soil on it. I've also decided to cover the soil with moss. Other than visual appeal, moss can help to contain moisture in the soil. Moss can be helpful in hiding things you don't want people to see, like the saucer platform, and moss also gives it a more woodsy feel. Now that your pot is full of flowers and ground cover, it's time to add decorations.

As mentioned before, I've added the mushroom house (which incorporates the red and white theme) and surrounded it with moss to hide the foundation.

Next (pictured below), I added small features like a white picket fence that I picked up at Hobby Lobby and two leaves that I literally picked up from the ground (they are dried Poinsettia leaves). I saw that they curled to make the shape of a heart and felt they would be a nice, natural feature to this garden.

After taking a few pieces out of storage and a trip to the Dollar Store, I was ready to fill in the arrangement. What started as one terra-cotta pot expanded outward. The bottom level was created by placing two small pots upside down and placing a flat board on top which you can't see thanks to the cover of the moss that blends nicely with the greenery I've placed around it.

These decorations can all be found at dollar stores (yes, even the plastic butterflies that light up) and give a pop of color to this arrangement.

This is the top tier; the terra-cotta pot we initially started with. Tommy rides his bike, very pleased with his new yard.

Thomas and Rosie fill out the bottom tier amidst flowers. They enjoy each other's company.

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Valentine's Day

I asked Queen AmberLynn if I could decorate her throne area and take some photos today for the upcoming holiday, Valentine's Day. She laughed and laughed and when she finally caught her breath, said "you know that fairies do not celebrate that holiday, right?" I replied that, yes, I did know that but I wanted to make a festive post for my blog and keep up with the holiday themes.

She nodded her head, smiled her sweet smile and said "that would be alright with me but quickly because today I am helping with the construction of my new housing."

The Queen sits in the middle of Valentine's decorations, finding it hard to keep her wings from fluttering with excitement thinking about her new housing.

Not only have the flowers surrounding the Queen's throne bloomed nicely,
but the courtyard flower are also coming in and should be in full bloom shortly.

On my way back inside, I saw a family of mice. They introduced themselves to me before I asked to take a photo. Thomas and Rosie (L to R) were new in the community and brought their son, Tommy. I was able to capture their Valentine gift giving (because mice DO celebrate Valentine's Day). I found out that the family is currently staying with a fairy family who has taken them in until the rest of the new homes are built. They hope to move into a home that is red and white because those are Rosie's favorite colors.

Thomas has given his wife, Rosie, a bouquet of her favorite roses and a red heart-shaped box full of cheeseballs while her son, Tommy, has found one large rose to gift as well.

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