Grow A Magickal Fairy Garden

Whatever you do to bring life to your garden will bring faeries as well. First of all, plant plants that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. This will also attract the fae. So put up hummingbird feeders, bird feeders, bird baths, bird houses, even bat houses. Small fountains, ponds, faery statues, or waterfalls are all good.

Here’s a short list of plants that attract faeries to your garden:

• Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium
• New York aster, Aster novi-belgii
• Shasta daisy, Chrysanthemum maximum
• Western giant hyssop or horsemint, Agastache occidentalis
• French lavender, Lavendula dentata
• Rosemary, Rosemarinus officinalis
• Thyme, Thymus
• Fountain butterfly bush, Buddleia alternifolia
• Orange-eye butterfly bush, summer lilac, Buddleia davidii
• Shrubby cinquefoil, Potentilla fruitiosa
• Common garden petunia, Petunia hybrida
• Verbenas, vervains, Verbena
• Pincushion flowers, Scabiosa caucasica
• Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus
• Common zinnia, Zinnia elegans

They also love the following plants and trees:

Foxglove, primrose, ragwort, cowslips, pansies, bluebells, clover (3-leaf, not 4-leaf), St. John’s wort, hazel, rowan, blackthorn, oak, willow, elder, birch, alder, apple, ash, and especially toadstools.

Dedicating the Faery Garden

Once the garden is started, you might want to ritually dedicate it as a Faery garden sanctuary. Begin by walking the around the garden with an athame (wand) pointed at its boundaries (much like casting a circle). Then sprinkle the perimeter of the garden with a branch of fir dipped in salted spring water. Finally, walk the boundaries of the garden with a lighted incense stick. (It can be left to burn in the ground when you finish.) Then with a wand of hazel, slowly walk around the garden greeting each plant with words like:

Spirits of the (insert plant name),
I welcome your presence in the garden.

Feel your love flow from your heart, down your wand, and out the end of the wand. Be sure to welcome all plants, stones, and trees. Nature spirits are easily offended. Conclude your ritual with these words:

In the name of the Goddess and the God,
I declare this garden a sanctuary
For the spirits of nature
And the children of the Gods.

When you are finished, leave a gift — cookies, soda, ale, cream, or bright, shiny things like rings, beads, or stones.

From: Ancient Ways