Today’s GPOD is short and sweet. In Billings, Montana, Taylor has taken the idea of a fairy garden in a very fun direction, creating a tiny 1930s speakeasy that comes to life among the plants each summer. I think you’re going to enjoy this one! Here’s Taylor to tell us more.
As a native Montanan with roots that can be traced as far back as the dinosaur bones dug up here, gardening has always been in my roots. The growing season is unfair but unmistakably rewarding. You treasure each new moment knowing that the countdown to the end started the moment you thought about beginning.
The moment I spy a lilac bud, my mind springs into planning that year’s fairy garden. This year, after some convincing and numerous promises that I would return to my parents’ house for proper upkeep every Friday, they said yes—not exactly sure what they were getting into.
Over four months, I diligently grew, trimmed, guided, and created the Juice Joint, a 1930s fairy speakeasy inside a basic round white planter. Its blue arched door is set in a stone frame and engulfed by moss as if it belongs to the hillside. This may be a speakeasy, but it’s no flophouse. The Joint has real cedar stepping stones, an acorn lantern that actually lights, and an old rusted bench where the waitress fairies come out for a cig.
Oversized daisies, nicknamed kaiju, loom over the premises with the calm authority of creatures deciding whether to flatten Tokyo or provide a nap to a tipsy pixie. A barely hanging sign points the way, advising visiting fairies, “Juice Joint — No Bad Vibes”—both the house rule and a surprisingly ambitious zoning policy. Apparently even imaginary nightlife requires standards.
Fairy gardens have a short life span in Montana, and I take that into account when planning each one. It is pure bliss to slow down and imagine again—to create and love a tiny world of wonder, fantasy, and awe.
The acorn lantern casts a warm glow over the entrance, lighting the way for any fairy brave enough to knock.
The Juice Joint at golden hour, the whole planter glowing as the speakeasy comes alive for the night shift.
The blue arched door in its stone frame, moss-covered and looking like it grew straight out of the hillside.
A kaiju daisy looms beside the lit acorn lantern, deciding whether to flatten Tokyo or shade a napping pixie.
Thanks for sharing this charming garden project with us, Taylor!
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