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Fairy gardening: Summer trend is magical escape for adults

There are no rules in the fairy world. No age limits. No restrictions. Just bring your imagination.

ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio — We all remember famous fairies like Tinker Bell, and the Fairy Godmother from "Cinderella." But you might be surprised to know how the magic from those characters has contributed to a unique trend for adults, and the way they landscape.

Fairies seem to take you to a mythical place -- a place where you don't bring your cell phone or iPad. The only thing that's a must? Your imagination.

“They’re real in our hearts," fairy gardener, Julie Cole, said. “I loved the magic of fairies. I loved the ideas of the magic of fairies. It takes you away from the real world.”

Cole's backyard in Ashtabula County is a fairy paradise. Her curiosity led her to the magic three years ago, and she's never turned back.

“I was visiting my brother in Coral Springs, Florida, and he had this little miniature garden on his patio and I fell in love with it. He said, 'Let me take you to this little nursery where I get all my stuff.' And so we went there and I fell in love with fairies because they had fairies everywhere. I came home and I dove right in and never looked back," Cole said.

Her passion turned into a local movement, when she headed up the Ohio Gardening Festival in June. There are no rules in her fairy world.

“Fairies know no politics or religion or color, they just are fairies. And they take you away from all the things in the world that seem pressing, ugliness. They bring beauty and peace," Cole said.

That peace can be found in Cole's backyard abyss. It's a haven she and her husband, Marty, created together over the last few years. But when Cole first approached Marty with her fairy intentions, he wasn't so sure.

“I don’t get it," Marty Cole said of his initial thoughts.

Now, he does.

“Even though she doesn’t do this for money, she does it for the love for it. She still has the same passion as if she was making a million dollars at it," Marty Cole said. “I’m very proud of her imagination, and again, her ambition and creativity. She loves giving back, participating in community and doing things for friends."

For Julie Cole, fairy gardening brings happiness -- much more than a hobby.

"People do fairy gardening for a lot of different reasons, mine is purely for pleasure," she said. “It’s a quieter, gentler world. It takes me away.”

It takes her away, but the gardening? That's here to stay.

“Probably for as long as I live," she said.

For more information on fairy gardening, click HERE.

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