Madison's Magical Fairy Garden ~

It all began when I placed a teeny tiny door I made, with a teeny tiny stone walkway leading up to it in my Granddaughter, Madison's outdoor fairy garden.

A garden I gave her to call her own. Where she could sit and play, plant flowers, read stories, decorate with her own garden art and let her imagination run wild.

Well, Madison was certain that fairies were afoot inside that teeny tiny door. Knocking at it every time she came for a visit, asking the fairies to please come out and play. Leaving letters, drawings and gifts for them, as they also returned the favor.
She was always So sad when winter came and the snow covered her garden.
So this year for her Birthday I surprised her with her very own indoor Fairy garden.
A space for her to visit the fairies in the cold winter months.

I placed tiny lanterns at the front to welcome you into the garden. A real pebble path that leads in and around. Tiny wind chimes and flowers all about hidden along the paths in the moss, all made from upcycled earrings.

A moss covered table and chair set, along with a cozy bench from real tree branches and bark, to sit and read or have some tea.

I used artificial ferns, flowers, rolling moss mounds and a leaf circle in the center to bring the garden to life.
And my favorite, a magical gazing ball created using an old lamp finial with a clear marble.

Get your children outdoors or inside to enjoy and appreciate natures' beauty ~
Help them to create their own special space to experiment with plants and garden art.
Keeping their idle hands busy tending and adding to it.
Bringing them hours of enjoyment and accomplishment.

The Lotus Experiment...............

I just love the art of water gardening, always looking and experimenting with new ways to enhance mine. I have always had my favorite, water lilies growing there, but I always dreamed of having a lotus plant in my garden. The local nursery's stock was just not an option $, so I thought I would try to germinate and grow my own from seed.

First I cut the seeds out of their pod

Then I scarified each seed by sanding the outer shell until I could see the cream colored flesh inside.

Placed the seeds in a small bowl of water, at a depth to just slightly cover them, changing the water 3 times a day. After 3 days, the seeds looked larger from the absorption of water. About 5 days later, I noticed a crack in some of the seeds. The next day some revealed a stout green shoot emerging.

Within a weeks time, they grew very fast, still keeping them just below the water line, With the seed staying at the bottom they stand straight up ever reaching for the top of the water, I used a large vase for this part and yes kept changing the water 3 times a day.


At this stage I decided to plant them.

Ordinary dirt even clay based is fine for lotus. Think about where they grow naturally, in muck and mud of a still water pond. I used 8 inch round flower pots, place a plastic grocery bag at the bottom (to keep the roots in the pot) and some rocks to hold the bag down, then filled each flower pot with the soil & clay mixture. I made a hole in the center and gently placed the seed in. Firmed the soil around it and placed a thin layer of pea gravel on top of the soil, to keep the seed from floating out of the pot and to keep the dirt in.

I submerged the pots into a large black tub, (the kind you find at outdoor parties used for ice & drinks).
Lotus plants need very warm water to grow and at least 6 hours of sunshine and must be grown in still water. So for now I have them on my deck, until that is I finish the bog they will be placed in next year

Success! My first leaf appeared about a week later, very exciting!

However the mosquitoes were also loving this still water tub. So I used a tiny piece of a mosquito dunk to control this.
Refreshing the water from time to time, I will keep these growing in this tub for the summer & fall, for they will not produce any flowers until next year (hopefully!) only leaves for now. I will bring them in when the weather turns here in New York & place them in the basement in water for them to become dormant (at a temp of at least 55 degrees). Never dead head the leaves of a lotus, for they keep feeding the tuber. I will experiment with one and lower it to the lowest point in my pond where the fish hibernate to see if it can survive a winter here.

Next spring they will be placed in the bog to grow.

This is the bog I am working on. I dug the hole level to the surrounding soil of the garden, quite the workout! I will be filling it partially with a peat moss and soil mixture. In the picture you see a straight black liner leading to the bog. This is the drainage from 2 gutters on our house that will feed the bog as it rains. Here in the country, with well water, we have to conserve, so I thought this would be the best solution for that.

My last picture of them, taken just the other day, at 12 weeks old, So far so good! My baby lotus nursery :)

I am already looking forward to next spring :)
to be continued..................

http://jewelsinthegarden.blogspot.com/2011/10/lotus-experimentcontinued.html

Fairy House Festival ~

Create an inviting home and Welcome a fairy into your garden! Crafting a fairy house is easy, just look to Mother Nature for your supplies. Construct them out of all natural elements, bark, moss, grasses, twigs, stones, feathers, nuts, dried flowers, etc...... take a hike into the woods to find your materials, a fun afternoon in itself!

Reconnect your children with nature, get them outdoors enjoying the natural world. It is a good way to encourage your children to appreciate and respect Mother Earth and our environment.

My Daughter, Granddaughter and myself created a fairy house for an event this past weekend held at Art Park in Lewiston, NY.

"A Fairy House Festival"

It was a Beautiful Sunny Day for the affair!
The welcome sign post led you to fun and excitement in every direction. Sweet little fairy houses were scattered under the trees throughtout the woods. Created by so many talented children and their families. Music and Merriment filled the air, along with story telling on a magic carpet under the trees.


Fairy dancers performed and fluttered in the sunshine ~


Face painting, arts and crafts for the children to enjoy! We had a Grand time!



Our entry was a Fairy Nursery. So Very Sweet!

It consisted of sticks we collected and turned into a tree. Tiny gourds strung from the tree swaying gently in the breeze. These gourds held our new born fairy babies, wrapped in leaves.

A nurse fairy sat in the tree to watch over and take care of the baby fairies.

She consisted of a hickory nut head with hair made from the blossoms of an oak tree and an acorn top hat. Her dress of dried flower petals and wings of a dried lily pod. She sits in the tree rocking a baby fairy.

On the forest floor sat a tiny house made of sticks, leaves and moss. A feather bed inside to change the little ones and a comfy mushroom chair to sit in.

Moss covered the ground floor, with a path of pebbles that lead you through the garden to a cozy camfire, to sit a spell, tell stories, rock the babies and sing to them. (Complete with marshmallows on a stick to munch upon)

Introduce your children to the wonderful, rewarding and magical art of a fairy garden. Get them outdoors and enjoying nature ~

Help them create their own special space to experiment with plants and garden art. Where they can sit and play, plant flowers, read stores, decorate with their own garden art and let their inagination run wild. Keeping them busy every year tending and adding to it. Bringing them hours of enjoyment, accomplishment and respect for Mother Earth!

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies"...Sir James Matthews Barrie (1860-1937)

My Garden

It's where I go to free my mind, refresh my body and calm my spirit. Where I find myself seeking enlightenment and a place I find inspiration. I've sculpted the earth into a place I hold very dear to me. A viewing point for nature's beauty. ~ Peace & Tranquility ~

It embraces me when I enter it. The growing gifts from family, friends and my travels greet me and I smile. Each having a story, a place, a person within it. Gathering stones and pebbles found on adventures through the woods, creeks and places I've visited, scattering them among the plants. A reflective pond with waterfalls sets in the background, my husband and I dug by hand that summer long ago. Filled with love and my koi, patiently awaiting to be gazed upon. Tucked away niches to meditate in, as I search for contentment.

One of my favorite places, a tranquil Japanese teahouse my talented husband and son built me for Mothers' Day. It welcomes me to sit for a spell at days end. Wonderful memories, natures' beauty, and my art surround me and comfort me there. Bringing me reflections of color, movement and sounds to sooth my soul.

~ "The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration." ~ Claude Monet ~