When scouting a space to allow the magic of a Fairy Garden to weave itself together here in our new little cottage grounds, there really was only one suitable place – protected with the fruit trees in our enclosed orchard amongst the food gardens here on our island home. Our property abounds with wallabies, possums and one rarely spotted – but resident all the same, echidna. And while all of these animals we are sure would love to frolic with our resident Fairies, they’d also like to nibble greedily on their garden plantings, leaving nothing but stumps within a few hours. Within the orchard rows was a little corrugated iron tub. Standing low enough for little arms to reach in – but high enough to prevent fuzzy little burrowing bandicoots from pottering amongst the roots. So there in the community of Apple Grove, right by the only peach tree in our orchard – ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ was named by a little girl and born with great love, excitement, imagination and wonderment.

Whilst watching the countless hours, conversations and festivities my children have shared there at ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’, amongst the Gardens and with the Fairies – perhaps my very favourite part of this experience was watching Chilli and Papa one Sunday become totally absorbed together in the magic of dreaming up, creating and bringing to life little pieces of hand made necessities and furniture for the Fairies Cottage and Garden spaces. The bonding, the giggles, the helping each other and the joy in bringing these pieces to life in the home there at ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ was truly heartwarming to watch. I loved their ingenuity in including natural native Australian treasures such as gumnuts for lamp posts and a dotta vine jumble wrapped around a fallen branch of melaleuca for an arbour. Papa remarked afterward at how impressed he was with Chilli’s creativity, as apparently most creations – including the walnut shell larder shelves – were her dreamed up inventions.

Friends have visited and shared adventures with the Fairies, brother and sister have tended this little home lovingly through the changing seasons – playing happily together in only that magical childhood space that children exist. The Easter Hare visited and parents, grandparents, godparents as well as  family friends have witnessed silently this wonderment that is the magic of Fairyland play amongst sweet, happy, inspiring young children.

Through the past year as ‘Peach Blossom Cottage and Gardens’ have been birthed, tended, cared for, loved and grown, I have delighted in the many little random Fairy Gardens I find built -here, there and everywhere. Groves in bowls for the Mermaids, Circles of Rainbows for the Leprechauns to visit and tiny little nooks on every part of our property that become spontaneous places to offer tiny delights for the Fairies. As I walk past ‘Peach Blossom Cottage and Gardens’, I always enjoy to stop, be marvelled by and smile at the sweet little creations that have sprung up through my children’s play; acorn tea cups filled with pansy pudding, a clothes line pegged with leaf towels and beds made snuggly soft by petals of sweetly scented rose blooms. I love to see where the bike has been ‘ridden’ to, who has ‘stopped in for tea’ that day and which little folk are currently ‘at the park’. It is always interesting to see what the ‘larder’ has been ‘stocked with’ as well. These are the things that make for wonderful childhood memories, and these are the moments that I will look back on fondly with a warmth in my soul when they’re both off living their own adult lives one day and have flown this tiny little family nest of ours. Hopefully they’ll always carry the magic of these early years in their hearts.

I invite you now to come on a little journey through the Gardens at ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’…
(Please click the first thumbnail below to enable the slider with image captions, telling the story of our Garden)

Are there magical tiny folk that live in your garden? I’d love to know if you’ve written about the adventures in your wonder filled Fairy Garden.

This post has been written to not only share the story of our All Season Fairy Garden Adventures with you, but also as submission to The Magic Onions 2014 Fairy Garden Contest. To Donni and her gorgeous family as well as the community of supporters bringing this opportunity to life – we thank you for inspiring great wonderment through this encouraging of Fairy Garden creations the world over.