Enchanted Cottage at the Edge of the Woods
This is my last in-house faerie garden for the time being. I am going to concentrate on decorating for Christmas after I finish this post. (You didn’t really think I was going to stop decorating, did you?? : )) This is another of my favorite containers. While the basket isn’t quite as large as my largest basket, it is still roomy enough for good plant growth. The only plant that is in temporary residence in this basket is the ivy in front. It is really too large in scale but it will add greenery for the time being. (I couldn’t find the small ground cover that I wanted. When I do, I will include another photo.) This is the Enchanted Cottage at the Edge of the Woods. Wonderful and magical things can happen here if you only believe!
The first step, as always, is to clear out all the old foliage, and add new soil; also I kept the “hardscape”. Because of the size of the container, I didn’t add a big a variety of plants, but I chose to keep the Norfolk pine. The little button ferns and the light green ferns add a feeling of lushness and they won’t outgrow the basket. You can see that the tape around the edges came loose but the plastic liner doesn’t need replacing, so I opted not to try to replace the tape. Since the plants usually cover the taped area anyway, I just have to be careful how I water.
I just love adding the little houses, don’t you?? The little mushroom house is absolutely right for the feeling I wanted, but much too small. The woodland background suggests camping but the hippie love van is too big. Cute though!
I really like the house with the blue roses. I originally ordered the house with red roses, but it came with blue roses and I liked it so I kept it. However, for this garden it didn’t have enough pizazz. You can see that the right house makes all the difference; the house I chose to use isn’t too small or too big, it is whimsical enough for the feeling I wanted to evoke, and it has just the right amount of color.
Last, but not least, I tried adding a couple of different faeries, and a pixie to see how they fit in. I added a miniature poinsettia for seasonal color and, when I added the pretty sitting faerie (she is a collectable faerie), she was too pastel. The little gardening faerie is a good scale, but completely wrong in this container. I liked the pixie; he is the right scale and the right feel for a “woodsy” look. If I had used the mushroom house, I might have also used him. In the end, all I added were a couple of small bunnies. They just seem to fit in anywhere.
Final thoughts: if your day is as stressful as mine was today (remember, we are having work done on our house!!), entering the tiny world of enchanted gardens is a great way to de-stress and refocus. As you tuck little plants into the soil and let your imagination soar as you add the whimsey, you begin again to remember the joy of simpler times and simpler days. And suddenly the things you were stressing about don’t seem so important anymore.