Leprechaun Encounter

We've been getting lots of rain here in Southern California so new things are blooming practically every time I turn around! This bright pink petunia stood out amidst white dianthus and greenery and I needed to take a picture. To my surprise, I also captured a few leprechauns in the background!

"Have I met you two before?" I asked, catching them by surprise.

"Who, us? Oh no, we're not here," said the one on the left.

"Yeah, us, we're not here," chimed the one on the right.

"Yes, I believe the one on the right is Clancy and on the left is Fagan" I assured them.

"Oh no, nothing to see here," said one, and the other parroted him as they both turned away, repeating the words in song. I guess I snuck up on them while they were trying to hide their gold. I didn't want any, just a little chat, but maybe next year. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I tried to sneak up on them a few times to see where they hid their gold.

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Sweet Pea Teepee - Origins

I've been working on this project for half a year and am finally ready to introduce it to My Fairy Folks. I was inspired by a YouTube video from Away With The Fairy channel where she formed a teepee shape out of garden canes in a container and transplanted sweet peas that would climb up. With that inspiration, I decided to go bigger and start from seeds.

I cleared out a large area in Rosemary Park to start my project. This was September 28, 2017.

I brought out this wicker basket as a guideline to the base of the teepee.

These sticks were gathered from my yard and plucked of all their leaves. They will serve as the height guideline and support for the growing sweet peas that came in this seed packet.

With the area and height set in place (and tied with a pretty purple ribbon), I watered the area and waited.

This photo was taken in October, 2017. There's life!

Also from October, a few more sweet peas sprout from the base of the teepee.

This photo was taken in December 2017. Three months of growth, each of the stakes have sweet peas ready to climb. On the stick in the rear left, you can see the sweet pea is very eager to be first to the top.

In February, 2018, I added some string between the sticks to help the sweet peas fill in the empty spaces. In retrospect, I think I should have added more sticks to help fill in the base of the teepee, but I think this alteration has helped to aid their growth.

From this angle you can see where I plan to have the opening of the teepee. I've also planted some ferns to the left and right of the entrance to make it stand out more. Once this teepee is complete, I'll clean out the center for some great photo opportunities for my fairies. We had some heavy winds during the last six months so I'm very surprised this teepee withstood the elements!

I plan to have some more updated photos of this area by April. This project has made some wonderful progress in the last month and I'm so excited to share! Do you have any projects you're currently working on that you'd like to share with us? Feel free to email me your story and some photos so we can add them to the blog.

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Fairy Garden Class - Anticipating Spring

Zinnia sits on a flower under a floral trellis petting a lady bug in her hand. Thorin the porcupine hums a sweet tune while he cuts through the morning chill on a small swing. They both talk about things they are looking forward to this Spring.

I began this container garden with a large tin bucket (from Michael's for $9) and put in drainage holes. I purchased an array of colorful flowers from Home Depot including yellow snap dragons, red petunias and pink vinca. My centerpiece will be the Perilla 'Magilla' which has beautifully colored leaves.

After deciding how I wanted the layout to look, I went ahead and added coffee filters at the very bottom, topped with small rocks and finished off with the potting soil. The largest plant is place in the rear middle first and the smaller plants fill in the sides evenly. As usual, I left a large area in the middle and front so that I can add decorations.

The soil is covered by a sheet of faux moss to set a lovely scene. The small rocks create a nice border as well as cover any visibility of the moss edge. Pinecones are a nice way to fill in space with a natural look.

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