Planting Fairy Gardens: Flowers, Plants and Herbs that are Said to Attract Fairies

Popular legend says that planting the types of flowers that fairies love or are associated with will attract them to your garden.

Generally, flower fairies are the ones that are attracted to fairy gardens. These are commonly described as gentle spirits of the earth who love natural beauty and luxury. They can be nasty to those who aren't generous to them. The usual recommendation is to leave wine and sweets for them at places where the fairy flowers grow, and they will bless the land.

Essential Plants for a Fairy Garden

Some herbs are associated with fairies, the most important one being thyme. In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania, the fairy queen, sleeps in a bed of wild thyme growing on a bank.

Foxgloves are essential for fairy gardens. According to legend, fairies sleep in the bell-shaped flowers, and wear them as gloves. Other common names for the plant include fairy fingers, fairy thimbles, and fairy cap.

The purple foxglove is a biennial. Its blooms range in color from white and cream to pink and purple. There may be attractive dark spots in the throats of the bell-shaped flowers. There are perennial foxgloves as well, including the yellow foxglove.

Foxgloves often self-sow and prefer cool weather. Those in warm climates may want to grow the quick-blooming variety, called 'Foxy.' This will produce flowers the very first year from seed.

Another herb that is essential in the fairy garden is saffron. Fairies are especially fond of this culinary herb/spice for flavoring cakes and dyeing cloth. Other recommended plants are rosemary and roses. Roses are much loved by fairies for their beauty and fragrance.

Plants that are Associated with Fairies

St. John's Wort was used to break fairy spells, and cure sickness caused by the darts of fairies. According to herbal folklore, a concoction of thyme can protect a person from fairy mischief. Other legends say this mixture will enable one to see fairies, who are normally invisible to mortals.

An old English recipe was recommended for the same purpose. Among the ingredients are flowers and tops of wild thyme, which "must be gathered near the side of a hill where fairies used to be," calendula flowers (called marygolde by the English), rosewater, and buds of hazelnut. The best times to take it are Beltane (Celtic May Day) and Midsummer (June 24th).