Home & Garden

make a home for the bees … and the fairies BY WENDY KING for the free press Creature Comforts imAgine A whole little world thAt fits in A pot or A hidden corner of your yArd. Fairy gardens — miniature settings for your own tiny 'once upon a time' — use creative landscaping techniques on a small scale. St. Mary's Nursery and Garden Centre's Carla Hrycyna says fairy gardening is rapidly gaining popularity. "Each fairy garden is different, like the chapter in a book that you create," she says. "You can do it in a container, an old bird bath, even a water fountain that has a crack in it. Any vessel can be used for creating these gardens." Plots might be reminiscent of an Old World rustic garden or designed to be more naturalistic. They might look 'ready- to-occupy' with tiny houses and paving stones. "It's not just about the plants, but the character," she says. This is a charming way to teach children about plants as well as to enjoy gardening in a small space. It also makes creative gardening accessible to folks with mobility issues because the pots can be raised to table-top level. Hrycyna suggests trying miniature varieties of perennials and select annuals. If you want that fairy garden to come inside the house, use a blend of tropicals. Make sure you have proper drainage and that you're using companion plants that won't overgrow it. "You can use baby tears, but if it starts to get over two inches high you can use your scissors to trim and maintain it." Miniature cedars and creeping jenny make a beautiful base, and thymes will add scent. Any type of mini tropical in a starter pot works well, and some people like to add a little sparkle with water-safe lights. "You can weave them through your little ficus tree and it will look like little purple blossoms growing on your tree in the evening." Hrycyna says there are telltale clues when the fairies have taken up residence. "It's when things start being moved around in your garden. Who moved the little wheelbarrow? I don't know. I didn't. Maybe the fairies came and did some gardening." Customers are catching the spirit, and they're in good company. "We started off showing a cracked bird bath as one and then a 14-inch dish bowl. Now we've created a five-foot by nine- foot table display with different houses going through it," Hrycyna says. "Not to be corny, but it kind of grows on you." While fairy gardens can be happy indoors and out, you'll have to stick with an outdoor plot if you want a bee garden. And we do need more bee gardens. "We all rely on bees because those fruits and vegetables in your yard need pollination among species to get food production, even on a small scale," says Shelmerdine Garden Centre's Deanne Cram. Even if you only have a balcony or patio, you can still attract bees. Just be cautious about placing containers a good distance from where you and your guests will be active. "I find that they are most drawn to flowers that are in umbels (tiny flower groups like the spokes of an umbrella) like yarrows or sedums in the fall," she says. As for colours, Cram favours the blues. "Nemesia is a good one, scaevola is a great one, and so is lobelia." Design with single-plant groupings that draw your eye. They have the same effect on bees. "Make sure that you vary your bloom times so you are encouraging the bees right from the beginning of spring with spring bulbs, right to the end of the season, with say, sedums," she says. Along with the bees will come other friendly insects and a few you might not like so much. Do resist the temptation to spray plants with pesticides. Cram says if you must treat plants, find an organic solution. St. Mary's Hrycyna says plants that want sun will also draw pollinators. "Echinacea, salvia, asclepias, which is also called butterfly weed, attracts both butterflies and bees," she says. She also suggests sedums, asters, lavender, and solidago. Bee gardens require the same care that any garden needs with the same attention to water and maintenance. Once the bees come, you want them to stick around. "Make sure you have a food source and shallow water sources like little dishes or little rocks carved out with water in them," Hrycyna says. "And you'll also find that they shelter. They look for little crevices where they can burrow into the ground to create their little homes." "If you create the right environment for bees, they are going to want to stay." ❙ FurnitureFaceliftbyKobi AffordableFunctionalArt WEWILL GIVEYOUR FURNITUREA FACELIFT ORTAKE CLASSES TOLEARN HOW 1368CliftonSt.. 204-813-5403 furniturefaceliftbykobi.ca vanGogh Fossilpaint instore FAIRY GARDENS LIKE THIS ONE AT ST. MARY'S NURSERY AND GARDEN cENTRE ARE GROWING ON cUSTOMERS. photos courtesy of st. mary's nursery and garden centre garden Home 2014 & 04 -

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