Fall Colors in the Fairy Garden
Florence Blum Writes on 'Miniature-gardening.com' offers winter plants and winter container garden.
What’s your favorite thing about fall? Do you love the crisp, cool air, or the return of football? Do you look forward to Halloween candy and wait all year for that first sip of a pumpkin-flavored coffee? I could probably list a million things I love about this time of year, but you can probably guess my all-time favorite—the fall miniature garden! When I need a break from the busy days of fall, I step into the world of the fairy garden, where miniature accessories, fairy houses, and fairy garden plants stir my imagination and add beauty to autumn’s chilly, gray days. If you are like me and have already started to plot and plan out the perfect container garden, but you are looking for a bit of seasonal inspiration, read on! Here is how I plan to incorporate a few fall colors into this year’s fall miniature garden.
Orange Cheery, juicy, bright, and beautiful. Orange adds a big squeeze of happiness to the miniature garden. Plan carefully, and you can even carry over your orange accessories into the winter container garden. To start playing with orange in the fairy garden, you need not look further than the pumpkin. In the past, I have added small, artificial gourds to my fairy garden in several different ways. They can be stacked on the stoop outside a fairy house, set up on a teeny-tiny picnic table for a fairy pumpkin-carving event, or piled into a miniature red wagon. You could even “plant” a pumpkin patch in the fairy garden, surrounded by a low fence. Do not forget to add a DIY “Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch” sign!
Of course, you could also make a bright orange pumpkin the star of your miniature garden. Be on the lookout for fairy houses shaped like pumpkins, or carve one of your own. You could even create a fairy garden container out of a hollowed-out gourd. A handmade fairy house inside a carved pumpkin may not last long enough to hold winter plants, but it would make for a splendid display and a fun activity for crafty kids and adults alike. Red Red is a color that packs a wallop in the garden. The bright, rich hue attracts the eye, and it provides a welcome contrast to green miniature plants. Red miniature accessories and miniature plants also transition smoothly into winter container gardens.
Red wagons, red fences, red toadstools dotted with white spots, and baskets of red apples are just a few fun ways to feature red in the fairy garden. There are also plenty of miniature plants with red or burgundy foliage that would look at home in the fairy garden. Alternanthera, Oxalis, and red twig dogwood all provide deep red or burgundy color in the garden. I have also found that a bright red barn or schoolhouse makes an eye-catching centerpiece in the fairy garden while helping to establish a back-to-school or harvest theme, both of which are great for the fall season. For a big splash of color with minimal effort, try affixing a fire-engine-red fairy door to the base of a tree. Passersby will wonder where, exactly, the door may lead.
Yellow The colors of fall remind me of a late-season sunset. Dark brown and red give way to brighter orange and yellow. While the dark colors dominate, I like to include a few hints of gold or yellow in the garden to add some light. In the past, I’ve tried yellow reindeer moss, faux plants with yellow foliage and flowers, and even yellow glass pebbles. A cupful of yellow mums could be the finishing touch in a fall container garden. No matter what you decide to add to your fall miniature garden, I do hope the final results add plenty of color to your life. The fairy garden can provide such a bounty of joy as the days turn gray and chilly. Enjoy it while it lasts. Happy Fall!
Miniature Gardening offers fairy houses, accessories, fairies, furniture to create enchanting miniature landscapes for containers or your yard. Story telling and imaginary fairy garden from 'Miniature Gardening' bring the playful kid out in all of us. Filled with intrigue and mystique each little miniature garden scene you create is a snapshot of such a dream. Thank you for spending your precious time in reading this article!