The entire Garden (buildings and grounds) is temporarily closed from Wednesday, March 25 through 9 am on Friday, April 24 in accordance with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' Safer at Home order. All Garden events, classes and programs throughout the rest of March and April have been canceled. See updates below.
The Fairy Garden features flowers once known as fairy caps, fairy petticoats, fairy thimbles and fairy cradles. Many of them were common to the Cottage Garden or Herb Garden. Indeed those very gardens conjure up visions of old-fashioned colors, sweet scents, and plants loved by bees and fairies.
Fairies like places to hide from human eyes, so any every fairy garden needs a house, rocks, and shrubby plants or ferns. They also like shiny things and a bit of water. Small wind chimes will draw fairies close. Many dwarf or alpine plants are ‘fairy-sized’ but there are also many herbs and flowers that are special to fairies.
| Common Name | Latin Name | Uses, Comments |
| Monkshood | Aconitum napellus | Elf helmets (P) |
| Hollyhocks | Alcea rosea | Fairy dresses (B) |
| Ladies Mantle | Alchemilla mollis | Fairies wash in the dew captured in the leaves (P) |
| Columbine | Aquilegia canadense |
Fairy bonnets (P) |
| Dwarf Sea Thrift | Armeria juniperfolia | Fairies use the flowers for cushions (P) |
| Harebells | Campanula rotundifolia |
Fairy caps; used in fairy magic (P) |
| Irish Moss | Chondrus crispus | For their beds or fairy rings (P) |
| Lily of the Valley | Convallaria majalis | The sweet white bells (flowers) ring when fairies sing (P) |
| Cottage Pinks | Dianthus gratianopolitanus or D. deltoides |
Symbolize love; used by fairies to strengthen auras and renew one’s love of life. (P) |
| Bleeding Heart | Dicentra spectabilis | Fairy earrings (P) |
| Foxglove | Digitalis purpurea | Flower that fairies sleep in; common English names include fairy gloves, fairy thimble, and fairy cap (P) |
| Coral Bells | Heuchera americana |
Fairy bells (P) |
| Lavender | Lavendula angustifolia |
Used to dry their clothes on (P) |
| Flax | Linum usitatissimum or L. perenne |
To spin and weave into their linens (P) |
| Mallow | Malva sylvestris | Fairy cups; dried blossoms are called fairy cheeses (P) |
| Poppy | Papaver orientale | Petals are used to make fairy skirts; put poppy petals in a pillow to invite fairies into your dreams (P) |
| Primroses | Primula veris | Fairy cups; grants fairies invisibility; eating them enables you to see fairies (P) |
| Rosemary | Rosmarinus officinalis | The blossoms are fairy cradles and fairy children like to swing in the branches (A) |
| Elder | Sambucus nigra | The queen of the elves lives under the elder roots; if you sit under an elder on mid-summer’s eve, you may see the king of the fairies and his court pass by (P) |
| Creeping Savory |
Satureja spicigera | Leaves and blossoms used to make morning tea (A) |
| Lamb’s Ears | Stachys byzantina or S. lanata |
Fairy blankets (P) |
| Thyme | Thymus serpyllum and Thymus pseudolanuginosus | Wild thyme, wooly thyme and other low-growing varieties like ‘Elfin’, and Thymus are used by the fairies for resting or dancing; wearing a sprig of wild thyme will enable you to see fairies (P) |
| Tulips | Tulipa | Used for fairy cradles (P) |
| Violets | Viola odorata | Offers protection against mischievous fairies (P) |
| Pansies | Viola tricolor | Heartsease, Cupid’s flower; used by fairies in love potions (P) |