Luckily for gnomes and fairies everywhere, the miniature garden is a trend that’s here to stay. Plus it’s a wonderful way to introduce kids to gardening.
We know Tucsonans are uber talented, and we’re building a photo gallery to show off your creativity.
Send your pictures to eds@tucson.com. Please include the photographer’s name and a description of what we’re seeing.
Fairy gazebo
Jim Staples' fairy gazebo is set amid sweet alyssum. A trail leads to the elf garden in his backyard.
Miniature garden with desert critters
Judy Robbins' husband, Dick Robbins, built the rolling planter box and she confiscated it for her miniature desert garden.
"Although it holds no fairies, it contains small cactus, beautiful stones, a small clay pot and miniature Sonoran desert creatures," she writes. "The addition of a slice of polished azurite gives the animals a drinking hole."
Fairy garden from Green Things Nursery
Catherine Day of Green Things Nursery put this miniature garden together during a class.
Dish garden from Green Things Nursery
This dish garden was created by Catherine Day of Green Things Nursery earlier this year at a free class.
A magical fairy garden
This garden incorporates rocks and succulents to create an inviting space.
Miniature planter box
Judy Robbins' husband, Dick Robbins, built the rolling planter box and she confiscated it for her miniature desert garden.
"Although it holds no fairies, it contains small cactus, beautiful stones, a small clay pot and miniature Sonoran desert creatures," she writes. "The addition of a slice of polished azurite gives the animals a drinking hole."
Seasonal fairy garden
Susan Lawrence's fairy garden includes a visiting squirrel and a sleeping cat. "I change this garden bowl to suit the season, and soon it will be have a Halloween scene, complete with skeletons," she writes.
Gnome at home
In this miniature garden by Susan Lawrence, a gnome keeps company with his two cats.
Elf garden
Jim Staples, a Tucson native, has a "Trumble Elf Garden in vinca" in his backyard.
Troll door
A door for trolls in a mesquite tree graces the lawn area in Jim Staples' backyard.
Fairy playground
Nina & Mareya B. have spent a year creating their Sonoran Desert fairy garden. We think we've successfully found a way to make it weather and critter proof, although, the pack rats steal things every once in a while," they write.
"Most of the items in our fairy garden are handmade. We have a mushroom garden made out of concrete and the really tiny ones have golf tees as stems.
"The same is true for our strawberry garden; little concrete strawberries with golf tees. The cottages are also made from concrete. The purple one has water bottle caps for windows and twigs coming out of the top. The little bridge is made of concrete and it leads to a bridge made from branches of tree that fell down in a storm. The winding staircase ends at the the entrance to the cottage and has two mini tree trunk houses made from concrete with foam tops. This is the start of our winding path with magical trinkets made from concrete and golf tees. Scattered around our fairy garden are different colors and sizes of glass gazing balls made from marbles and golf tees.
"Concrete stepping stones and white picket fences are among the items in our garden with blue and pink aquarium rocks sprinkled all around. Glass beads and bells are strung throughout the garden and crystals are scattered around the turf; when they sparkle in the sun the fairies come out to play.
Here is a link to the rest of the photos of our fairy garden.
Broken pot garden
Amy Belk of Civano Nursery on the east side took this photo of a popular miniature garden motif: the broken pot.
Southwestern theme
Civano Nursery on the east side has a huge fairy garden setup at the nursery. Amy Belk writes, "We also make potted fairy gardens that we sell at the nursery (and we have a ton of fairy garden supplies for sale, too)!"
Garden swing
Amy Belk of Civano Nursery sent us a photo of this cute garden with a swing.
Fairy town
Here's a fairy town at Civano Nursery. The east side store carries fairy garden supplies and complete miniature gardens, too.
Fairy Bench and House
Here's another fairy bench from Amy Belk of Civano Nursery.
Q: What do mites look like?