With their sweet, glittery and colourful charm, fairies and fairytales have been a key part of many a childhood. How
many mothers and daughters out there have spent time outside searching for fairies in the forest and the garden?
Whether you have a young one interested in fairies, or if you yourself are an enthusiast, wildflowers are a wonderful
way to bring this interest close and bond with family as you all get your hands dirty. We have multiple
mixes of seeds for meadows in any garden, but for those wanting an extra touch, here’s a few suggestions for
the perfect plants to sell that traditional ‘fairy village’ image- and perhaps a few stories about their supposed
supernatural connections.
Bluebells
are a favourite flower for creating an image of storybook whimsy, with their unique colouration and a simple, yet
effective name that folklore suggests may have more meaning than its shape alone: Fairies are able to ring bluebells
to call meetings and to dance to their music.
Daisies
may be overlooked as a rather widespread wildflower, but they’re perfect for those who want an otherworldly ocean of
petals as you may see in stories, as they give you a lot for very little care. They’re also the number one flower
for making crowns and necklaces with! Alternatively, their Ox-Eye
variants are a more ornamental plant with the same classic charm.
In stories, you might see sprites living in little villages of mushroom huts, but traditionally, they’d enjoy taking
a nap in a cozy, cup-shaped flower. Cowslips
are one of their favourite flowers for this, to the point where they’re nicknamed ‘Fairy Cups’!
Foxgloves
are for sure the most famous flowers for fairies, and a stunning sight for any garden. These tall, speckled towers
of gorgeous bell-shapes flowers have many suggested roots in folklore: they may have been used by foxes, fairies or
both as protection against hunters; it’s also said that they bow down to passing pixies and the like, which is why
they sometimes seem to sway without any wind! However, keep in mind that foxgloves are poisonous, so people with
pets or small children might want to give them a miss.
While wild beauty works best for a garden grotto, there’s a number of things you can do for extra style. Adding a
birdhouse or a small source of water makes for a makes a meadow look more like a welcoming habitat, not just for
fairies but for beneficial pollinators (you may also want nectar-rich
flowers as a potential food source). You may even want to try making your own fairy ring: use mushrooms,
flowers or even just some stones, and use some of your fanciest flowers or a choice ornament as a centrepiece!
