Hidden worlds await along Magnolia’s garden paths
by Hanalei Potempa | Contributing Writer
This summer, step into a world of wonder as a magical, whimsical fairy village comes to life at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
The Fairies & Flowers exhibit will feature more than 20 handcrafted fairy dwellings tucked throughout the gardens. Along winding paths and beneath canopies of blooms, these enchanting homes shimmer with mystical details, hidden treasures, and storybook charm—inviting visitors to slow down and look a little closer.
Carrie Seiden, Education Programs Director at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, shared that this will be a brand-new experience created in partnership with more than 30 local artists, along with students from the West Ashley Center for Advanced Studies, all collaborating to bring fairy magic to life.
Seiden explained that Magnolia strives to introduce fresh and imaginative exhibitions that weave creativity and storytelling into the natural landscape, always guided by the question: “How can we build upon nature?”
The fairy exhibition was inspired by the beloved fairy village at the Florence Griswold Museum in Connecticut, with additional guidance from the museum’s Director of Education, David Rau.
Seiden commended the Florence Griswold Museum team for their generosity and support, stating, “They are helping us bring that same fairy magic to the Charleston area!”
The development of the exhibition has been a true community effort, with local artists, students, and groups coming together to craft each tiny dwelling with extraordinary care, detail, and imagination.
“We are really, really grateful to have so many people—established artists, students, community groups—creating installations for our gardens,” Seiden says.
Seiden shared that the goal of the exhibit is to enhance the natural beauty of the gardens by encouraging visitors to slow down and rediscover a sense of wonder—appealing to both children and adults alike.
“We’re very proud of our historically significant gardens. They are just so beautiful,” Seiden says. “We’re hoping that by having the installations to look at it slows them down a bit.”
Visitors can look forward to a variety of whimsical designs—from a fairy bed and breakfast to a charming fairy café—along with countless hidden surprises waiting to be discovered in every nook and cranny.
Following in the footsteps of the Florence Griswold Museum, each artist will incorporate a hidden element into their installation, transforming the experience into an interactive treasure hunt.
As Seiden notes, “it’ll be more engaging for kids and adults to seek and find and to look really closely.”
The overarching theme of the fairy village, “It takes a village,” ties each dwelling together into one interconnected story, creating not just a collection of tiny homes, but a cohesive fairytale woven through the gardens.
“We want people to walk away with a fun, memorable day spent outdoors at Magnolia and in our gardens,” Seiden says “And we also hope that people will leave with ideas of their own and maybe feel inspired to create gardens that are full of whimsy at home.”
The exhibition opens Memorial Day weekend and continues through mid-July. Admission is included with general garden entry, and guests can follow along on social media for pop-up events, artist meet-and-greets, and hands-on crafting sessions where children can create their own fairy wands—adding an extra layer of magic to the experience.
“Our gardens are just extraordinary on their own. But then putting these little fairy gardens in there,” Seiden says. “I just think that it’ll look like they were meant to be there, that they were always there, that somebody just came along the path and saw a fairy village that existed at Magnolia all along.”
Fairies & Flowers will be on display through Sunday, July 12 at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located at 3550 Ashley River Road. For more information, call (843) 571-1266 or visit www.magnoliaplantation.com.
