Small Vines for a Fairy Garden

Moonlight Hydrangea Vine

• Fairies are mostly nocturnal creatures, so Schizophragma hydrangeoides "Moonlight," or Moonlight hydrangea vine, is a perfect choice for any fairy garden. Its small, heart-shaped, shimmering silver-blue, darkly veined leaves impart a sense of magic even before the white lacy flowers appear. Not a true hydrangea, "Moonlight" is a slow-growing, nonaggressive vine, hardy to USDA zone 5. Reaching a maximum mature height of just 10 feet, it will adapt, with regular pruning, to container growth.

Arabian Jasmine

• Another night bloomer is Arabian jasmine, or Jasminum sambac. This small, attractive ornamental vine bears dark green, almost waxy, foliage and has powerfully fragrant white flowers that open at night and close, having turned palest pink, in the morning. Frost-sensitive, this slow-growing jasmine is considered to be the most pleasingly fragrant by aroma experts and will happily winter indoors in pots.

Miniature Ivy

• Hedera helix "Hedgehog" just has to be a favorite of the fey, with its unusual, un-ivylike, twisted leaves, which mound into a tight, heavily ruffled, hedgehog form. Hedera helix '"Shamrock" is a popular miniature that was selected Ivy of the Year in 2007 by the American Ivy Society. Hardy to USDA zone 7, it is an extremely self-branching ivy, with round-tipped, split leaves that become suffused with copper in cold weather.

Sweet Peas

• Long before the apricot-pink flowers of the heirloom Lathyrus odoratus "Fairy Queen" won public admiration in 1894, sweet peas were popular in fairy gardens. The showy "fairy bonnet" blooms of the new hybrids boast compact foliage and large flowers. "Bijou Mixture" is an 18-inch dwarf vining type available in shades of red, pink, white, rose, purple and blue. Perfect for garden or container growth, this sweet pea's blossoms attract butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and, of course, fairies.