Twigs from my garden

"There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!

It's not so very, very far away;

You pass the gardener's shed and you just keep straight ahead -

I do so hope they've really come to stay."

Rose Fyleman's sweet poem about fairies was included in my very own set of Child's World books. I read the poem over and over as a child, wondering just what the "bottom" of a garden would look like, whether it resembled the bottom of the crick near the bridge on the road that ran past our house across from the woods. The colorfully detailed, two-page pictured accompanying the poem was typical of the 1950s, with a blonde little girl running at play, wearing a dress and Mary Jane shoes, and a blonde little boy in dress shorts and smart brown oxfords. While I was not allowed to dress like that when I played, I assumed some children somewhere must. But, mostly, I was enthralled with the poem.

This must have been the beginning of my infatuation with fairies, but I have noticed that at about the same age as I was, my granddaughter also took an interest in fairies. While visiting me, she chose a spot under a magnolia tree in the front yard for her "fairy garden" and she and the neighbor girl spent a lot of time kneeling there, creating their own special place in hopes of attracting a few fairies. Before the summer ended, they had a bark swing hanging from slender silk ribbon from a low branch, acorn "tables," white stepping stones, and even a little pond made from a rhubarb leaf filled with water.

Recently I entertained - and reciprocally was entertained by - about 14 little girls dressed up like fairies, including sparkling wings, at a Fairy Tea sponsored by the Hardin County Herb Society in the community building in Ada. Members brought fairy memorabilia and made miniature fairy gardens for the tables.

To create your own miniature, and portable, fairy garden from a lined basket or wooden box - or to invite fairies into your garden - you should know some of their favorite plants. Foxgloves are essential to fairies; they make clothes from the blooms. (Some say foxgloves were originally called folk's gloves, and fairies have been called "wee folks" and "little folks.") Other common names for foxgloves are fairy cap, fairy fingers, and fairy thimbles. Thyme makes fairies feel welcome. Most fairies prefer sleeping on beds of thyme because it is so soft and smells so lovely. Moss is also a favorite spot for fairy napping. Ferns are important for a fairy's well being. They use the fern fronds for bedding. Bluebells' bell-shaped blossoms are used by fairies to beckon one another to dances. Violets and pansies, as well as forget-me-nots, are all favored by fairies. Fairies use tulip blossoms as beds for fairy babies, and walnut shells make excellent fairy cradles. Mushrooms and toadstools are useful as fairy tables. Fairies like shiny objects, such as small mirrors, so they may admire themselves and they are not above "borrowing" something they like.

To see a fairy, you may make a special potion of rose water, calendula flowers, hollyhocks and wild thyme and set it in your garden. However, under no circumstances, should you ever attempt to capture a fairy. The outcome could be disastrous!

When my granddaughter went through her "fairy phase," I purchased a set of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairy child-size books. Her beautiful watercolor illustrations, and later her books, were originally published in England in the early 1900s; her fairies are portrayed as diminutive beautiful children, with elfin ears, dreamy eyes and butterfly wings. According to Barker, flower fairies are some of the smallest of the fairies, only four to six inches tall, sprites of nature who care for flowers, plants and trees. Each fairy's personality derives from her special flower, and each poem conveys the spirit of that flower.

If you are interested in learning more about Cecily Mary Barker and her delightful flower fairies, go to her estate's official Web site, www.fairyflowers.com.

Event

Lima Garden Club will be taking a bus trip July 15, leaving Eastgate (behind Wendy's), Lima, at 8:30 a.m. to visit a lily farm near Galion, then heading to Kingwood Garden, Mansfield, for a delicious catered box luncheon and tour of the mansion and gardens. After a stop at downtown Mansfield to shop and ride the carousel, the group will return to Lima at 7 p.m. Cost is $30, which includes bus, lunch and all gratuities. Send check payable to Lima Garden Club to Pat Komarek, 4681 Amaryllis, Elida, OH 45807, by Thursday to reserve your seat. For additidetails, contact Komarek at 419-339-2932.

Master Gardener Tip of the Week

You can find plenty of tiny weeds and natural materials in your own yard to plant your fairy garden; you don't need to purchase anything special - just think small!