Presenting ... the Manchester Fairy Garden Tour
Fairies go to school, too, right?
submitted by Laura Wohlgemuth, Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café board
The Manchester Fairy Garden Tour is brought to you by Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café, and by many creative fairy lovers here in Manchester. The contest was such a close call again this year with only one or two votes separating the first, second, third, and honorable mention. Our judges range in age from 6 to 73 all with quite different and unique opinions!
Our judges only had good things to say about each and every garden. A few of the judges used these comments:
“Creativity shown in many more! Hard to choose."
“Each display was special—creators could be proud of what they accomplished!”
“Can’t they all be first?!?”
So without further ado, here are this year's winners. Honorable mention goes to Shyanne Blossom at 822 E. Vernon; third place goes to Teri at 404 W. Madison; a second place tie goes to Linda at 120 Torrey and Anna at 412 E. Main St; and a first place tie goes to JoAnn at 329 Ann Arbor St. and Alexis at 123 Hibbard St.
We greatly appreciate our hard-working contestants and our superb judges for making this fairy garden tour a possibility. We hope everyone has a "Fairy Fun Adventure" exploring the many fairy gardens throughout the village!
The Manchester Fairy Garden Tour 2021, going from West to East in Manchester, with some of the judges comments, follow:
404 Madison St.: “This fairy garden was very exciting and seemed an ideal place for them to live. Set under a great tree, the fairies must be drawn to the abundance of nature and beautiful flowers grown by the talented human nearby. The barrels offered a cozy option for those fairies that like a little more privacy. The effort and love put into caring for this garden is very evident!”
“Many whimsical little fairy gardens in little old fashioned barrel pots, are surrounding the trunk of a big maple tree. Nice use of stones and glass beads, along with the placement of the fairy decorations.”
“We enjoyed how each of the little pots had their own theme. It was like a fairy village of fairy islands.”
211 Main St.: “This simple but powerfully moving garden, was tied together by the enormous tree that housed the fairy home. A simple door and window with a fairy looking out, teased the imagination to all that the tree contained. Who knows how much magic that old, majestic maple holds!?”
“Attractive look of rocks traveling around the base of a large old tree. A few Hens and Chicks are peeking out of the rocks, and a fairy is leaning out of her window to whisper, "Hello." Below her is a sweet little fairy door.”
“This is probably the biggest fairy tree house in Manchester! The sweet little fairy peeks out to say, welcome one and all!”
Downtown Manchester has nine Fairy Doors. Can you find them all?
329 Ann Arbor St. “We were very impressed with this fairy garden set off the bustling street of Manchester. We thought that these fairies were not afraid of all the noise and excitement that happened in town. As we viewed the fairy village, a fire truck set off down the street and sounded a loud alarm. We liked that all the fairy houses were together in a community and the kids couldn’t stop talking about the schoolhouse! Fairies go to school too!”
“Many unique fairy houses are in this large fairy rock garden, with creeping ground cover, all under a large tree. There is a refreshing looking blue glass bead river, that flows into a small pool.”
“This is a perfect town for fairies. It even has a pond and river for a water source and many different fairy pets.”
412 E. Main: “One look at this fairy garden and we know these fairies are VERY friendly and welcoming. They had many non-fairy friends visiting including the favorite Garfield and T-Rex! Not only were they friendly, but their ingenuity to use everyday material for building and designs impressed us. We couldn’t believe how creative they were to use bottle caps for steps and golf balls as ladybugs. Happiness and joy radiated from this garden!”
“A very creative fairy garden with lots of imagination, with fairies having a tea party, next to a T-Rex, and Garfield cats hanging out with Tigger. Three bright red pots of flowers are the backdrop to this setting with handmade fairy homes, fairies, gnomes and little treasures all scattered throughout the garden.”
“This fairy garden looked like it was naturally a part of their house and they added unusual toys such as dinosaurs etc. We also liked how the family created a lot of their own houses and accessories. Basically they used what they had to create. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We love it!”
220 Beaufort St.: “At this fairy garden, we were impressed with the small bonsai like tree that grew in a drawer! The simple nature environment made it blend in well and hide. We thought it was likely that the winter was when this garden is at its peak, because Elsa and Jack Frost were in it.”
“A very creative way to display a fairy garden in an old drawer. A cute little pine tree grows behind a terracotta pot fairy house, with a handmade fairy and other characters enjoying the garden. Moss and clover cover the floor of the garden.”
“What an extraordinary idea to use an old drawer for a fairy garden! We love the innovation. “
625 E. Duncan St.: “Right away we could totally see that this garden housed flower fairies. The beautiful flowers around the tree had two fairies drinking tea out of flower cups, on a flower table. We wondered where the fairy found so many beautiful buttons to put in the garden path? They added wonderful color and intrigue to the design.”
“A very sweet setting of two fairies having tea with a snail and other creatures. There are many little treasures scattered about around them. There are the cutest little fairy doors made of popsicle sticks, and adorned with glass beads and buttons. The garden is surrounded with beautiful pink peony silk flowers.”
“Wouldn’t you just love to join those two little fairies with their tea party? With fairy sized tea cups and fairy sized treats, this fairy garden resembles something from Alice in Wonderland.”
120 Torrey St.: “We liked that these fairy gardens spread throughout the yard and even housed a separate gnome garden. We were told that the gnomes would invite the fairies over to visit from time to time. Special heirloom shells lined the gardens and beautiful stones added a flare to the design. Gorgeous flowers bloomed all around and made us wish we could live under the shade of the purple Columbine petals.”
“Several sweet little fairy gardens are placed around this yard. There are fairies, gnomes and woodland creatures nestled in between pretty perennial plants and soon to be flowers. Rocks and shells border around these settings. A separate tiny garden is inside a pot where miniature fairies and decorations surround a mushroom house.”
“This fairy garden keeps going! Just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s more! Don’t forget to check out the area by the garage.”
822 E. Vernon St: “We liked that this garden used red wood chips to cover their area. You can tell the fairies and gnomes are hardworking and like taking care of animals. Our favorite homes were the ones made of doughnuts and ice cream! We thought they were lucky to live there!”
“Many darling fairies gnomes and even farm animals surround the trunk of a large tree. A group of gnomes are camping next to their motor homes. Tiny chairs await fairies to come take a rest.”
“We really loved the variety of fairies- especially the large fairies!”
316 Morgan St.: “We were amazed and impressed with the talent and creativity to paint houses onto rocks. We can tell that this took a lot of time and patience to complete. We also liked how the fairies made their home in the Lily of the Valley. It all seemed very magical and peaceful.”
“Wow!! These hand painted fairy rock houses are amazing! So much time and effort put into each and every one. Both gnomes and fairies thrive here nestled in the Lilly of the Valley.”
“This fairy garden is full of lots of fairies and gnomes living in this hand painted fairy town. There’s even a big fairy that guards the village and takes care of the whole garden.”
211 Morgan St.: “At this garden we really liked the brightly painted flower pots as the fairy houses. It was very eye catching. I esp. liked the painted monarch butterfly rock and the glass rocks used as flowing water. It was bright and cheery!”
“Delicate handmade fairies dance above intricately painted fairy houses made of terracotta pots. The garden surrounds a small tree, with a large rock boarder, and some of the rocks are painted in bright colors. Many silk and glass flowers adorn this garden, and little woodland creatures inhabit the garden.”
“We really enjoyed the hand painted house and hand made fairies that really gave this garden a homey feel. The blue jeweled water oozed even more magic into the scene!”
123 Hibbard St.: “Our first reaction to seeing this massive fairy garden was 'Wow!' Everywhere you looked there was all different types of things to see. Our favorite part was the elaborate beach area. You could tell that the fairies were very lucky to be able to live somewhere with so many interesting things to explore. I bet these gardens would be a great place for fairies to vacation and have a great adventure! Amazing job!”
“So much attention to detail and creativity has gone into this very large fairy garden, with smaller pots of tiny gardens inside of the larger garden. Each little pot has its own theme. There are lots of brightly colored annual flowers in the pots and that border around the whole garden. Perennial plants and flowers are planted inside the garden. There is also a fun fairy and gnome beach with sand and blue glass water features.”
“We loved how big the fairy garden was here and that it also looked like a village. You could tell it took lots of time. We especially loved that part of the garden highlighted the Great Lakes and Beach theme.”
Colorful fairies and flowers.
Just a small sampling of the many fairy gardens on Manchester's walking tour!
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