I'm developing a new "area of interest" relative to gardening - "Miniature Gardening!" The excellent M&M Nursery in Orange CA has built a pretty nice business it seems specializing in plants and decorations for what they call "fairy gardens." These fairy gardens are mini landscapes created in pots, saucers and larger containers and planters that are complete with tiny trees, hedges, pathways, arbors, fountains and even "fairy" figures (think "Tinkerbelle") I've always admired these demonstration gardens at M&M, and I've always badgered my family jokingly that the "Storybook Land Boats" is my favorite ride at Disneyland because of the mini gardens.
So I finally decided to create one of these mini landscapes, and I'm quite pleased with the results. As you can see my first effort has a Japanese quality to it, what with the bonsai evergreen. And yes, that is indeed a micro-sized koi pond no larger than three inches in length!
Since my younger son seems to likes these mini gardens as well, I can see how this might turn into an expensive little pastime as we start creating more elaborate landscapes over the summer.
June Gloom as its called in coastal Southern California is in full effect, with daytime temps below 70 and persistent marine-influenced cloud cover. The garden has slowed down a bit because of the weather, but there's a few things of note. The first tomatoes are ripening, including Sungold, a prolific cherry-sized that is perfect for salads. The popular new Australian native ptilotus, or "Wallaby Tail" sure looks nice intermingling with the yellow blooms of Santolina. The "formal" rose garden is in between major bloom cycles, but still looks pretty nice. My "tomato and basil"garden is just behind the rose garden, enclosed by a boxwood hedge. Finally, the Rose "Guy De Maupassant" is in great form right now.
