A Fairy Garden is .....

Miniature Garden

Story # 48,


           ‘A Fairy Garden is a garden that a dollhouse would have.’

                            Jeff Sorensen, Fairy Gardens, Inc.        

     This makes sense to me.  The garden would be proportional to the miniature scale of the dollhouse.


      This is the kind of stuff that Grandmothers do with their Granddaughters.  Grandmothers always wished that they had found the time to play when their kids were little.


       ‘A Miniature Garden is one where the fairies have not arrived.’

                         G. Hunter, Gary’s Specialty Plants

        The Miniature Gardens that I’ve seen have accessories like furniture, houses, arbors, pathways, animals, fireplaces, windmills…..

      They are a scene.  They are a landscape with small plants.


      There aren’t any rules.  You’ll know a good one when you see it.  Grandma Moses painted scenes that were out of proportion and she got by.

Every Miniature Garden needs 'Li'l Georgie'!

Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie' waiting to go into a Miniature Garden.

Story # 47,


            Every Miniature Garden needs ‘Li’l Georgie’!


      Marketing worries about positioning and the story.


      The story is a good one.  Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ is a free-flowering miniature houseplant.


      The positioning is obvious.


           Every Miniature Garden needs ‘Li’l Georgie’!

Miniature Gardens as an Olympic event!

Miniature Garden with Faries

Story # 46,


      By watching the Olympic Games we learn about sport events that we didn’t even know existed.  If you can swim free style and sprint for two hours in the river you can try for the swimming marathon.  If you can twirl a 19 foot ribbon you can train in rhythmic gymnastics.


      Miniature Gardens as an Olympic event!


      First we will need a lot of rules.  How else will we subjectively know the good from the bad?  Judged flower shows already have categories for mixed plantings ------ Dish Gardens, Terrariums, Plant collections and Miniature Gardens.  Why not elevate it to the Olympic level?


      Luckily you can plant a Miniature Garden any way you want and be happy without any artificial Olympic rules.

Every so often...

Blue Orchids created a New Category

Story # 45,


                           “Every so often, a plant comes along that is a true game-changer,
                                            transforming its genus or even its category.”

                                                                  Robin Siktberg, Editor, Greenhouse Grower


        It would be great if this is the lead into a feature story about Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’
            You can stop laughing now.


      This lead is, in fact, a story about the selection and promotion of the Knock Out Rose by Conard-Pyle Co.  Because of its disease resistance, the first Knock Out Rose has revitalized the Rose industry and deserves its dominant position in the market.  They are attempting to move Knock Out Rose into the flowering shrub category and away from Roses which gardeners had given up on due to various diseases.


      Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ is an unknown plant in an unidentified category.

 
      We know that ‘Li’l Georgie’ is a breakthrough for micro miniature Sinningias because it can grow as a normal flowering plant without extra humidity.


      The category is yet to be defined.  It is one of the world’s smallest flowering plants.  It’s cute all by itself, but what to do with it?   Miniature Gardens, including Fairy Gardens, is where it should go.


                If S. ‘Li’l Georgie’ could be produced in quantity, it could be the ‘true game-changer’ as the leading flowering plant in the Miniature Garden category!

Nobody does what I do with plants.....

Ivy Wreath Topiary by Gary's Specialty Plants

Story # 44,

      Nobody does what I do with plants…

This sounds too much like bragging so I added:

      …They could, but they don’t!

My signature line:       Nobody does what I do with plants;
                                They could, but they don’t! 

     Started out as half a joke, but critics told me they liked it.

          I’m happy that I’ve used it. 


Not a Sinningia in Sight!

Story # 43,

 Not a Sinningia in sight.

      One of my missions each year at the OFA international horticultural trade show is to look for any Sinningias that are entering the market.  Once again------- there are none.  The exception is a line of Gloxinias shown as new varieties.

      But we call them Gloxinias not their botanical name of Sinningia speciosa.  I’m looking for compact or miniature Sinningias like I am producing.

      So what does this mean?

      There are none because nobody wants them or nobody has produced them to find out if anybody wants them.

      Horticulture thrives on the new and unusual, but Geraniums and Petunias pay the bills.  Commercial horticulture has been really slammed by the depressed economy.  Growers are very cautious about trying new stuff until the sales increase over the mess we are in.

      Sinningias are flowering houseplants.  The sales will be there once the supply is increased.

Will Sinningia 'Li'l Georgie' be in every Minature Garden?

Miniature Garden planter with cactus to be replaced with Sinningia

Story # 42,




                                                                               “Every Fairy Garden needs color!”
                                                                                        Nancy H.,  Jul 2012




      If you were designing a Miniature Garden from scratch you would look for a focal point, use miniature furniture and figurines and build varying heights and pathways for interest.  Miniature green plants could shape the landscape.  And when you are done you would say:  ‘We need color in here’




       The perfect plant would thrive as a houseplant, be continuous flowering and stay small to be proportional to the landscape.




      This miracle flowering plant will be hard to find.




      Nobody knows that Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ is coming to take that spot.