One of my first custom-made Miniature Gardens from 2002. Made for my fellow miniaturists, Dolly and Mike, for a gift for a family member out on the Oregon Coast. I hear it is still alive and doing well.
It’s a bad news, good news thing.
I’m still sorting through our photo archives for my upcoming book on Miniature Gardening by Timber Press – only to learn that my old iMac crunched half my archives. Thousands of original, high-resolution pictures that I have been stockpiling for the book have been greatly reduced in size and won’t be any good for print. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that I can easily share them online, with YOU! I’ve made some notes about the plants too:
Love the color scheme for this Miniature Garden. Tans, browns, greens and pinks make a pretty picture. This was made around 2003.
Clockwise from left to right: Elfin Thyme, Hobbit Dwarf Spruce (shrub), Cotoneaster dammeri ‘Tom Thumb’, Nana Gracilis Hinoki Cypress, Dwarf Lilyturf, Tricolor Stonecrop Sedum, Sedum Ogon, Elfin Thyme, Miniature Sweet Flag (grass), mini Hen and Chicks (small round plants.)
Having fun with the pot shapes. White Pymgy Sawara Cypress on the corners with White Thyme in the middle. Made around 2003.
Miniature Garden with Flamingo and Jean’s Dilly Dwarf Spruce. Love the pinks and browns. The stump is staked on a rod to hold its place in the soil. That’s a Wooley Thyme on the left, Platt’s Black Brass Buttons on the right.
The First Miniature Garden – the one that started it all. I brought this picture into Swanson’s Nursery where I was working at the time, and showed it to one of the more knowledgeable people that work there. She didn’t notice that it was only 10 1/2″ wide.
Close up of the First Miniature Garden. That spiky thing is a baby Monkey Puzzle Tree, the leafy, green thing in front of the grass is baby spinach. (Had to pull it out a couple of weeks later.) A baby Hen and Chick is in front, with saxifrage in the fore-ground.
The First Miniature Garden – the miniature garden pond made from a bonsai dish.
Miniature Garden Sculpture, The Thinker, by Michelangelo, has since been discontinued. He was about 1 1/4″ tall.
6 Comments
Molly Frank on May 25, 2012 at 7:55 pm
I love your miniature garden. It’s so pretty and detailed.I hope you continue to post these photos!
Your good news bad news story and demise of pictures sufficient for print is a “boon” for all of us. I love to see all of your creations displayed they are such works of art. Living and breathing entities. As I still am just an admirer, and haven’t created a miniature garden myself, can you tell me that as the plants grow do you clip and replace as necessary?
I’m not a big fan of pruning my miniature trees. Pruning the tips of the branches will only encourages new growth. (The tips of the branches have growth-suppressing hormones that suppress new growth further down on the branch. When the tip is cut, you cut off the growth-suppressing part of the branch and the plant reacts with new growth.)
The trees and shrubs we use are naturally slow-growing miniature and dwarf plants that we can enjoy for years and years before they get too big for the pot or miniature garden. They really are a treat to grow and there is an option for just about any region too!
I just found my new love!!! :)) I’ve always loved gardening but to find your web of minatures thrills me. Found you through Pintrest…Im like a kid in the candy store…I want one of everything!!!! Sandy C
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I love your miniature garden. It’s so pretty and detailed.I hope you continue to post these photos!
Your good news bad news story and demise of pictures sufficient for print is a “boon” for all of us. I love to see all of your creations displayed they are such works of art. Living and breathing entities. As I still am just an admirer, and haven’t created a miniature garden myself, can you tell me that as the plants grow do you clip and replace as necessary?
Hi Gillian!
Thank you for your kind words!
I’m not a big fan of pruning my miniature trees. Pruning the tips of the branches will only encourages new growth. (The tips of the branches have growth-suppressing hormones that suppress new growth further down on the branch. When the tip is cut, you cut off the growth-suppressing part of the branch and the plant reacts with new growth.)
The trees and shrubs we use are naturally slow-growing miniature and dwarf plants that we can enjoy for years and years before they get too big for the pot or miniature garden. They really are a treat to grow and there is an option for just about any region too!
Thank you so much for identifying the plants and trees.
I just found my new love!!! :)) I’ve always loved gardening but to find your web of minatures thrills me. Found you through Pintrest…Im like a kid in the candy store…I want one of everything!!!! Sandy C
Hi Sandy! We understand. Lol! Enjoy and let us know if you need anything. – J.