Karen Wils photo Fairy gardens fill a variety of spaces including terracotta pots.

ESCANABA — Imagination and cultivation meet in the sweet summery world of gardens.

Half magic and half Mother Nature, the garden opens the door to another world. Welcome to the land of morning dew, twisting vines, ripe berries and string beans.

This is the peak of the gardening season in the U.P.

There are so many kinds of gardens, vegetable gardens, flower gardens, kitchen gardens, salsa gardens, herb gardens and butterfly gardens, to mention a few.

Gardeners spend an awesome amount of time coaxing their plants to grow. It’s fun to go for garden walks at this time of year and to take hikes in the country fields.

And who doesn’t just love the green ferns, tall corn stalks, rambling zucchini vines and plate-sized dahlias?

Now, there is a new type of garden to enjoy. Fairy gardens are springing up in places with the help of children and adults alike.

Some fairy gardens are right with in the family veggie garden or flower garden. Other fairy gardens are in special containers like terra cotta pots, buckets, wheelbarrows, wagons or in hollow stumps.

Dozens of types of little fairy figurines are sold for decorating the gardens. Some are plain and simply made like flower petals. Others are fancy with wings, watering cans, pet dragon flies and all kinds of accessories.

The power of imagination is what fairy gardening is all about.

The more you can create and make things out of nature the better your fairies will like their garden. Birch bark thatched roofs, pine cone foot stools, steps made out of sticks and moss covered stones are a few of the things that make fairies feel at home.

Some fairy gardens have pea gravel roads, mushroom umbrellas, waterfalls and lots of flowering and succulent plants.

It can be fun for the whole family to try to spot the fairies and other yard decorations in the pumpkin patch or up on the bean poles or in an ancient tree stump by the camp or cottage.

It doesn’t matter if you are a serious gardener out looking for snap peas, spinach or ripe tomatoes or a silly gardener looking to see Tinker Bell and her friends.

The important thing is that you take time to get out into the gardens and the wonderful world of nature. The growing season is short here in Upper Michigan. Enjoy the carrots, the cucumbers and the creative fairy gardens and yard ornaments.

——

Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.