Fairy garden walking tours begin!
A beach scene is just one of the fun fairy gardens along the Fairy Garden Tour in Manchester.
A walking tour featuring a dozen local Fairy Gardens has shaped up nicely with each garden about a five-minute walk apart, according to organizers. Each of these unique and special gardens were created with love by the participants and can be found all through the village.
The Manchester Fairy Garden Tour, sponsored by Acorn Farmers’ Market, starts appropriately at the market site, 327 W. Main Street. From there, proceed to 404 West Madison St, then 211 West Main, behind the Gazebo. Head east to find the garden at 114 Adrian St., then up Ann Arbor Hill to 329 Ann Arbor St. Make a detour down the shared use trail to find a hidden garden behind the house (424 E. Main), off the trail, and then continue back west to 412 E. Main and find yet another adorable garden. Make a left on Beaufort Street to find a garden at 220 Beaufort St., then proceed east on Duncan to find one at 625 on the Torrey Street side. Keep going to the corner of Duncan and Hibbard, and examine the beach scene at 123 Hibbard Street, then double back to find the final two gardens at 211 and 316 Morgan Street. You’ll have completed a nice leisurely walk and likely find a lot of fairies (as well as ideas for your own fairy gardens!)
Another day, you’ll have time to find the nine Fairy Doors in downtown Manchester. Can you locate them all?
Also, as an added bonus, there are 30 beautifully decorated fairy rocks hidden along the tour. Feel free to re-hide them along the tour route, but please only take one so that many will be able to enjoy these rocks. Thank you to  Dawn Salkauskas-Chizek for making these delightful rocks.
The judges had a tough time with the fairy garden contest as each garden had a special and unique aspect that made it stand out. With a fun variety of judges from a 6 year old fairy enthusiast to a professional gardener and all sorts of judges in between who each had a different perspective. Winners were:
Third Place ($10 certificate to Acorn Farmers’ Market) goes to 211 Morgan St. One judge commented, “A terra-cotta pot village–what a neat idea!” “Each fairy home was hand painted!” Second Place ($15 certificate to Acorn Farmers’ Market) goes to 404 West Madison St. Judges commented on the mini fairy displays throughout the garden and all the great pollinators that were part of the display. And First place ($20 certificate to Acorn Farmers’ Market) was a tie between 316 Morgan Street (“Amazing in its completeness and beautiful in its design”) AND 412 E. Main Street, which “shows an extensive imagination when considering the life of a fairy and in creating the items in the scene by hand–using recyclable materials.”
Congratulations to all! In addition, each of the following fairy gardens all receive an honorable mention as they were all just one vote shy of third place: 329 Ann Arbor St., “A magical fairy community complete with mini River Raisin;” 211 West Main St., where “The old tree makes a perfect dwelling for the fairies. Don’t forget to peek inside the gardens too;” and 114 Adrian St., where, judges noted, “Even fairies enjoy a summer vacation of camping.”
Thank you to Acorn Farmers’ Market for hosting this tour and donating the gift certificates, as well as to all the participants … and of course, the observers.
A map of the Fairy Garden Tour route.
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