Many Choices in Selecting a Theme for a Miniature Garden

For the past few months, this hobby gardener has been planning a miniature garden.  At this point you may be asking, “Who is this gardener?”  I am the lucky person who maintains the on-line miniature gardening shop for Winter Greenhouse.  Imagine spending the whole day in a fairy garden!  In a future blog I will write a little more about myself, because right now my mind keeps wandering to the question: “What should be the theme of my new mini garden?”  There are so many products to pick from that making a choice will be an enjoyable mission.

The theme could be; Spending a Day at the Beach. Picture fairy houses with thatched roofs and Adirondack chairs in the fairy garden.  A straw hat lies on the weathered wooden table.  Little red buckets with tiny seashells create the feeling that someone just returned from the ocean.  The pathway has two pairs of miniature flip flops casually tossed in the sand.  An assortment of plants provides greenery to the garden.  Must remember the seagulls.  The final touch, in creating the beach theme, is the ocean.  Since this is a miniature garden, the ocean can be little in scale and created by sprinkling blue raindrop disks over a bed of sand.  Ah…a day at the beach.

My mind wanders to something else I saw on the miniature gardening web site.  A flag flying in the wind.  The fairy garden could have a red, white, and blue patriotic theme.  Sitting on the table of the white bistro set is a pitcher of lemonade and a plate of cookies.  Terra cotta pots planted with mini white daisies surround the patio pad.  In the background is the blue Thistle Fairy Cottage bordered with a white picket fence. Standing next to the fairy houses, the Cicely Mary Barker Fairies are enjoying the patriotic theme.

Yes, there are many themes to select from when planning a fairy garden, but after looking through the www.wintergreenhouse.com web site my choice was made.  I selected an Up-North Theme.  My first thought was to place two rustic vine twig chairs, with pillows, around the patio pad fire pit.  The little twigs in the pit makes me think of cooking S’Mores, so placed on top of the tree stump table is a fork from the wooden mini tool set.  I could not resist adding a little white bead for a marshmallow.  Time to follow the stepping stones, which line the pebbled pathway from the fire pit to the fairy houses.  One of the first fairy houses is Katie’s Cottage, with its gray pebble façade. Leaning against the house is a rustic metal scooter. Do not be surprised if you see a mini gnome ready to take a ride.  What else needs to go into an Up-North Garden theme?

A miniature garden would not be complete without miniature plants and fairies. Among the fairy houses, a tall Rosemary Trailing Tree Form would create height to the design.  Wouldn’t a leaf swing look perfect hanging from a branch?  Elfin Thyme was planted to create a lush green lawn, while the Watch Chain Plant provides a hedge in front of the vine fence. If you peek around the leaves of the Polka Dot Plant, you will be able to see the Orchis fairy carrying wood for the fire pit.

Sitting in my human-sized bench, I find much pleasure in gazing at the miniature garden I just created.  Maybe it is time to start on the beach theme fairy garden!