STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Winslow Vail and Amarah Wesley talked in hushed whispers as they walked along the creek flowing through the Sawtooth Botanical Garden south of Ketchum. After all, they didn’t want to disturb any fairies that might have taken up residence there in the past few days.

But, when they spied their first fairy house, they couldn’t contain their excitement.

“Ohmigosh, that is so good,” Vail blurted out as she spotted a miniature cabin that evoked thoughts of the Swiss Family Robinson with its rope ladder dangling across rock porch, tiny purple flowers tucked in pebble plant holders and a windmill nearby.

A fairy house built on a solid foundation.

“I wanna live in this one,” said Wesley.

The Sawtooth Botanical Garden has blossomed with a bonanza of blossoms the last few years nurtured by the loving hands of local landscapers and groundskeeper K.O. Ogilvie. The addition of 14 sculptures, made possible by Gallery Owner Gail Severn and others, have made it all the more special.

Now, a new Fairy Trail featuring 10 tiny fairy homes made by Wood River Valley residents, has made it even more magical.

The fairy houses are made of natural materials, such as leaves, grass, moss, branches, flowers, acorns, rocks and pinecones, seashell and feathers held together by glue and twine.

Peacock blue colors this house.

One takes on the appearance of a wigwam. Another features peacock feathers and a dream catcher amidst moss and a jawbone. One, tucked away underneath an antler, resembles a wishing well made of tiny lava stone.

One features a moss archway, a swing and a fence made of willow cuttings. A dome-shaped house is covered with flowers. And one is even made of a cow skull.

“It’s about a journey of discovery,” said Vail.

It was Vail who pitched the idea of a Fairy Trail to Jen Smith, the executive director of the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.

A wishing well house built for a wish-granting fairy.

“We said, ‘What is that? We want to know more,” recounted Smith. “Then it was like, ‘Heck yes.’ We had already created a little fairy house in the green house and Susan Flynt and Dave Sturdevant featured some great fairy gardens on the garden tour. We put the houses out on Saturday thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun,’ and we had 40 people show up to check them out that first day.”

Vail, who was born in the Wood River Valley but grew up in Maine, has had a lifelong love for fairies. She used to write letters to them in which she confided her aspirations and challenges.

“I felt a sense of kindness and safety in the fairies, and I shared all my deepest joys and sorrows,” she said.

“Dear Fairies: I love you all,” she wrote in one. “Could you help me with my writing at school? It always seems hard for me. I never get it how I want. Do you ever fly on birds and owls, and do you ever fly up to the moon at night? I wonder if I felt your wing on my cheek while I was writing today. It was quite warm! Could you tell me what you have been doing... Is everyone OK? I hope, I hope Mimi—my grandmother--gets better. Will she? Love, Winslow."

Some imaginative fairy house architect utilized a skull.

Now, Vail holds Fairy Schools, in which she enlists fairies to teach children skills for nurturing self-love, emotional balance and inner peace, sending Fairy school letters to children on the first and 15th of every month.

“I feel like children listen to the fairies,” said Vail who plans to start a fairy podcast featuring people’s fairy stories.

She plans to incorporate fairies and fairy houses into six camps for 4- to 11-year-olds during June, July and August at the garden. Each will include nature journaling and arts and crafts.

Joining her will be Wesley, a sophomore at Sun Valley Community School,  whose father Drennan Wesley stoked her imagination as a youngster by building fairy doors that he placed on trees and the baseboard of their home.

“We’d do elaborate themes and decorate them for the holidays,” Wesley said. “And my mother and father would leave little notes, which I pretended was written by fairies. It was so magical.”

Vail hopes others will be inspired to build fairy houses for the garden’s Fairy Trail as they see the ones that have been created.

“Traverse City, Mich., has a fairy garden and it’s so popular people come from all over just see it. So, I hope this might be like that and grow every year.”

Vail also hopes the Fairy Trail might attract people who have never been to the Sawtooth Botanical Garden before.

“The trail is for people of all ages,” she said. “I hope it will inspire creativity and imagination as people consider nature’s magic. I hope it will encourage people to come and hang out in this garden—maybe have a picnic or read-- because it’s so beautiful and peaceful.

WANT TO BUILD A FAIRY HOUSE?

If the garden gets enough houses, it might even build a fairy town, said Jen Smith.

To learn more, contact Winslow Vaile at winslow@winslowvail.com.