After taking some time to evaluate my garden after our recent hailstorm, I’ve realized that although some plants were quite damaged, some weren’t really impacted too much. My large leaved hostas are toast.
At least the ones where the leaves were unfurled. There were still a few varieties that weren’t up all the way yet, so that was an unexpected bonus to the cool spring we’re having.
My tulips all bit the dust as well. Ironic, right? They survived the winter, and then the deer, only to succumb to hail.
But for the most part, plants with small leaves, like the sweet woodruff …
and the brunnera were just fine.
Which brings me to my smallest plants of all, the ones in my fairy garden.
As you can see, the fairy garden fell victim to the hail much like the rest of my garden. But it’s easy enough to fix a toppled birdbath when it’s only 3″ tall, and once the hail melted I could see that there wasn’t much damage done to the fairy garden at all.
This seems like a good opportunity for a fairy garden update.
My fairy garden lives in an old cracked bird bath that I purchased at a garage sale. The crack meant that it would no longer hold water and function as a bird bath, so that made it perfect to plant in since it has drainage.
If you’ve been following me for long, you may remember that I gave it a refresh back in 2018.
Since then only two of the perennials have reliably returned each year. One is the bright lime green mini hosta called Feather Boa, and actually it’s doing so well that it’s threatening to take over. I’m going to have to pull it up and divide it again soon.
I keep trying other miniature hostas, but so far none of them have made it through a winter. We bury the fairy garden in a big pile of leaves up against the house for winter to give it some extra protection from our ridiculously low temps.
The Berberis thunbergii ‘Concorde’, the dark purple ‘shrub’, has also come back each spring. The Barberry has not retained that dark purple coloring though, now it looks like this …
I suspect this is because it doesn’t get enough sun.
I always add a few annuals to the fairy garden each year. Unfortunately, I rarely know the names of them. I buy most of them at Bachman’s (my local garden center) and they are just labeled as ‘pixie plants’.
I added a little vertical interest with this next one …
It will be interesting to see how that one performs.
I also added something from Stepables this year. Are you familiar with them? They are low growing ground cover plants that can handle some foot traffic. They are supposed to be good for planting in the crevices of a flagstone walkway, for example.
This one is called Blue Star Creeper and I hope I can keep it blooming in my fairy garden this summer because those tiny blue flowers are super cute.
My little garden angel is getting pretty ratty looking …
I may have to do some experimenting with the Dixie Belle Patina Paint on him next!
If you like my fairy garden, you should see my in-law’s! I’m going to make a point of getting some photos of it to share with you guys this summer. But until then, do any of you have a fairy garden? If not, I highly recommend it. You can fit one in just about anywhere, it’s much cheaper, it’s much easier to take care of than a full sized garden, and apparently it won’t suffer much from hail damage. So I say, garden small!
q is for quandie 
I was thinking of making one, perhaps this summer would be the time for one. Love the Blue Star Creeper~so lovely!
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There’s no time like the present 😉
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What a sweet fairy garden! Love the statuary, very Zen. Also noted the adorable watering can, homage to your non-collection! Love!
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LOL, right?! My non-collection includes a miniature version 🙂
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How refreshing to meet a gardener like me less concerned for the names of the plants but for their beauty. I really enjoyed your post and may venture into a fairy garden if I can find a suitable garage sale find. Happy Gardening, the very best way to get grounded in life.
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You can get really creative repurposing something into a fairy garden, hope you find just the right thing!
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I’ve not heard of stepables- i have a flag stone patio they would be great for. .
You have a lovely garden-
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Thanks Deb! And yes, stepables are perfect for planting in between flagstones. You can google them, it’s an actual brand name.
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So far I only have full sized gardens and planters, but that is super cute!
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It’s so much cheaper and the labor is far less back breaking when you garden small 🙂
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Sorry to read about the hail damage to your hostas. As you know I have long envied their luscious look in your garden. If you cut the damage off is it possible they will grow back this summer? Your fairy garden is charming and although I vote for spiffing up that garden angel with the Dixie Belle Patina paint.
Love the sweet woodruff and the brunnera plants. Some of my plantings have grown large I have more shade and less sun in my backyard therefore there are areas where the lawn is not performing. I installed some stepping stones where the grass has given way and become more of a muddy path. I’m wondering if one of those one of those two to grow around the stones in my pathway. I must do some research.
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I’m optimistic about the hostas recovering this year. The last time this happened it was in mid-June and the hostas never did look good again that year. Fortunately they are still putting on a lot of new growth, so fingers crossed. Either way, they’ll come back full strength again next year so no damage is permanent. The brunnera gets to be a fairly sizable plant, so it wouldn’t work around stepping stones, but the sweet woodruff might. I will warn you that it can be considered invasive and it may totally take over. On the plus side, it’s evergreen in the south 🙂
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Niiiiiice, Miss Quandie (-: I’ve never heard of a ground cover being differentiated as a “stepable”!
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It’s actually a brand name for a company that sells plants that are particularly suited to be planted around flagstones or in other areas where they will get stepped on. Maybe they aren’t sold in California? I’m sure you have entirely different plant choices out there compared to what we have in our climate.
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I think that’s a pepperomia next to Buddha, and definitely a croton providing color. Both are houseplants that will move into the house if you’d like to keep them
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Awesome, thanks Kathy! If they don’t get too big, I may just try to overwinter them in the house this year.
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