Fairy gardens still flying high

Editor’s Note: There’s no doubt that fairy and miniature gardening have been extremely successful categories for garden centers, but estimates vary about when the hobby really took off. Some say it was five years ago, others say a decade or more. The March 1995 issue of Garden Center (formerly Garden Center Merchandising & Management), featured a cover story, “Growing young customers,” all about how to get children interested in gardening. Themes were popular, like pizza gardens, showcasing plants associated with the food, and one source described a Peter Rabbit garden, featuring plants mentioned in the stories. Kid-friendly plant names like ‘Teddy Bear’ and ‘Lion’s Mane,’ both sunflowers, were also mentioned as an important way to get children comfortable with gardening. What was absent, however, were fairy gardens. Now, as the garden centers we spoke to for this article can confirm, the tiny green spaces have become an important gateway to grow children’s passion for gardening.

Call them fairy gardens, miniature gardens or just a fun activity, but miniature landscapes are flourishing. This segment of the industry shows no signs of slowing down — and fairies are still clearly at the helm. For independent garden centers sharing this magical world of make-believe, some leading trends define the current season.  

Since planting her first fairy garden about 10 years ago — complete with homemade accessories — Ricki Creamer has watched the fairy garden business mushroom. As owner and chief fairy enthusiast at Red Cedar Gardens in the Kansas City area, she isn’t surprised at its continued growth. “Fairy gardens are a hot commodity at Red Cedar. It’s about one-third of our business,” Creamer says.

Tonkadale Greenhouse, based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, has been fairy gardening for about 12 years. Known for its locally award-winning selection, Tonkadale’s fairy department continues to expand. “It really sped up,” says Sue Hedlund, fairy merchandiser. “We thought it might slow down, but just the opposite has happened.”

At Tagawa Gardens in Centennial, Colo., manager Beth Zwinak has seen a steady increase since committing to build their fairy gardening base two years ago. “The area is staffed four days a week now,” Zwinak says. “Originally, it was a seasonal person, and now it’s full-time.”

“It’s exploding,” says Lisa Briggs, assistant manager with The Bruce Company in Middleton, Wis. Launched about four years ago, their fairy garden area now occupies a front-and-center location inside the main entrance, next to checkout. “We’ve been selling more, and it’s still on the upswing,” Briggs says. “No fall off here.”
 

Children bring new life and new sales

One of the hottest trends for these garden centers is a move toward children and families. Until recently, fairy gardening has predominantly drawn adults. “They’re adults who still want to believe in fairy tales and did doll houses when they were little — like me!” says Creamer, with a laugh. As adults share their interest with children, fairy gardening has become a family activity.

Red Cedar sees two main types of shoppers: grandparents with 5- to 8-year-olds and mothers with younger girls and boys. Grandparents tend to go for bigger items aimed for outdoors, while young moms lean toward smaller containers for indoors and out.

Tonkadale’s Hedlund sees more young children with grandparents and young mothers. “More children are getting involved. Adults are sharing their playtime with younger family members,” she says. “It goes from 1- and 2-year-olds up to grandparents.”
 

Boys and men join the expanding customer base

Boys are a growing market segment as parents, grandparents and female siblings plant the seed and more males of all ages get in on the action. At The Bruce Company, Briggs sees the lure growing for boys and responds with more boy-centric items, but still with the fairy theme. This includes dragons, toads instead of frogs, and the all-important boy fairies.

At Tagawa Gardens, themes with knights in shining armor, insects and dinosaurs are popular among boys, and miniature gardening classes draw more males of all ages. More dads with moms, and more men in general are shopping Tagawa’s miniature gardening displays. Tonkadale reports a similar wave, with more men enjoying fairy themes and time with their kids.
 

Bright colors and less realism in the forefront

Jessie Jacobson, manager at Tonkadale Greenhouse, sees growing interest in more colorful, bright themes and painted metal accessories in vibrant colors. Creamer agrees and ties the emphasis on bright, colorful accessories to greater involvement by children.

At the Bruce Company, less realistic items in brighter colors consistently sell best. “If we have a realistic garden next to one that’s brightly colored and less realistic, the less realistic one sells,” says Briggs.
 

Human elements move into the fairy world

Fairy-sized accessories now mimic everyday human interests. Tiny Weber grills, little Adirondack chairs and mini birdhouses are popular. Fairies play croquet, hang out clothes, cheerlead and trick-or-treat. “They’re incorporating our interests and hobbies into the fairy world,” Creamer says.

As more vendors expand on themes with the added human element, Jacobson sees customers building fairy themes around special memories or occasions. People are also using fairy gardens for weddings and to showcase events.
 

Large-scale fairy landscaping on the rise

At Red Cedar and elsewhere, projects grow larger. “What I see more than anything is people looking at large-scale projects and saying, ‘We can do this,’” Creamer says. Customers are doing walk-through fairy gardens in the landscape and built-in fairy garden boxes as part of new construction. “I can talk to a customer for six months about buying a $350 urn, but they’ll turn around and spend $350 to $400 on fairy gardening with no problem,” she says.

At Tonkadale, customers come in with landscape drawings akin to full-size landscape plans, incorporating elements such as rock staircases and vines. “Part of the growth is miniature gardening and not just fairies,” Hedlund says. “There’s housing and landscaping, but usually with the idea that this could be visited by fairies.”
 

Associated trends and spin-off sales expand

Terrariums are enjoying a renewed interest thanks to the fairy fascination, and non-fairy terrarium sales have grown. “People want to build a little landscape, a little world in a microcosm,” Briggs says. “It was about attracting fairies, now it’s about building an environment.” Jacobson cites a similar trend among older kids. “They’re interested in creating that mossy ecosystem,” she says.

Gnome sales are growing, as is interest in fancier fairies. “These are detailed fairies, almost like collectable figurines, rather than garden fairies,” Zwinak says. Demand for larger garden ornaments with a fairy connection is growing, too. “People are bringing the fairy aspect into regular gardening, things like a life-size frog with wings,” Briggs says.

Fairy gardening’s appeal continues to broaden as a love of gardening spills across families and generations — and rising sales reflect that growth. “I especially like that there’s a lot of participation of the whole family, across generations,” Zwinak says. “It’s a good, easy gateway into gardening — a way to unconsciously share that passion with the next generation.”

Jolene is a freelance writer and former hort professional. She lives, writes and gardens in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area.