Mulberry Creek Herb Farm: Catalog/Mulberry Miniatures

Mulberry Miniatures

To use this section, ignore the "Herbs A-Z" buttons above this line. Use instead the "1-2-3-4...." buttons at the bottom of this page.

Welcome to Mark’s dream section. The smaller the plant is, the more he likes it. "I find these miniatures, so often overlooked and even walked on, absolutely fascinating. Why? Possibly as I mature in my plant tastes, the subtle details of these noble, slow growers are just as exciting as their substantial, bold, splashy counterparts. Certainly it has to do with no matter how many varieties I find, there are, literally, always room for more. And there's the fact that they are just darn cute, like the tiny doll furniture, that make you yearn to be just their size. I suppose I like the contrast with this weird world and my own sacred space, where everything is child-like perfection for my boys and me. No war, no hunger, and no weeds! Creating authentic miniature worlds, transport the artists and lucky participants."

We hope you enjoy these selections as much as we have reveled in collecting them.

A Child's Garden

...is close to my heart. Here's a few things I've learned along the way:
1. Can be as simple as a circle of herbs in the ground or a themed herb patio pot
2. Keep in mind the child from small accessories to pruning like Dr. Seuss
3. Teach with it- the lessons of living and dying, the wild variety of textures & shapes living harmoniously...
4. Build your muscles & imagination with healthy harvests & faery stories
5. Invite wildlife attracting hummingbirds with sage, precious bees with thyme & hyssop and butterflies with parsley & sage

Here are some guessing games with herbs you might have in your child's garden:

What plant smells like....ANSWER...
dirty socks? CILANTRO
grandma's perfume ROSE SCENTED GERANIUM
lemons? LEMON VERBENA or THYME

What herbs are... ANSWER
soft? LAMB'S EAR
velvety? PEPPERMINT SCT. GERANIUM
crispy? PEPPER BASIL

What herbs look like... ANSWER
brown & feathery? BRONZE FENNEL
a pine tree? ROSEMARY
seaweed? SAMPHIRE

Most of all, please do not re-plant or re-space your child's work. That's part of the learning as well. ENJOY!

A Faery Garden? How to make one.

1. Think location. Do you have a child or a visiting child that has a favorite hiding area? Ben and Joshua chose a spot years ago on the shady, north side of our barn that had some weedy “Box Elders” and lots of rocks! That’s where it went. Anywhere is fine, granted, it’s a treasured “secret spot.”

2. Ponder what plants qualify as “Wee Folk” worthy. While the only limits are your imagination, classics include the traditional Cicely Mary Barker plants like “Cowslip Primrose, Double Daisies, Ragged Robin,” and many others. We’re guided by plants that are fairly small, have delicate blossoms, are usually hardy perennials, (“Elfin Herb’s” a sweet exception), tolerate at least a little shade (for those secret places), and have a good flowering span from spring through fall.

3. Most importantly, take time for soil preparation. Extra humusy, organic material is always good.

4. Embellish. Gather twigs and moss for faery houses and furniture. Look in your couch for marbles. They make terrific gazing balls.

A G-Scale Railroad Garden

Garden Railroads are America’s hottest new hobby. Larger than the traditional indoor Christmas train, these weather-proof models run outdoors throughout gardens that are landscaped with miniature plants appropriate for this scale (G-scale). Small buildings and roads are added to create some amazingly realistic worlds. Interested? Then you have to check out “Garden Railways” magazine. Call 800-533-6644 for a trial subscription. Amazing photos.

O.K. for you railroad gardeners, here is a partial listing of suggested plants and how they can be used for your miniature world. Most are appropriate for a broad range of train scales. Look through our entire miniature section to determine the particular varieties listed, their hardiness and special qualities. Full grown versions of plants normally will NOT work in railroad settings, stone troughs or faery gardens. Don't forget the herbs for your RxR garden.

Most of the Thymes, mini Basils, Dwarf Curry, and hey even Parsley are great as well.

Aethionema /Stonecress, Rose

Aethionema kotschyi

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun
Height: 4h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini shrub

Cluster of rose colored flowers bend over the towers of needle shaped foliage like a heavy snow. From a miniature perspective, it mimics something like a "Lace Cap Hydrangea."

Aethionema, Pink Turkish Stonecress

Aethionema (Encomia) oppositifolium

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun
Height: 4h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini shrub

This tufted, cushiony ground hugger is made up of fleshy, gray green leaves appearing opposite each other (thus the species name), like dozens of upright, succulent clams emerged from the soil.

African Violet, Humpty Doo Mini

Saintpaulia 'Rob's Humpty Doo'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade - P. Sun
Height: 1-1/2h X 3w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Terrariums, Shade Gardens

Like most any violet, you need to use room temperature water to avoid permanent splotching on the leaves. The sweetest, non-stop, white flowers hold court over rosettes, which enjoy frequent dividing.

Alternanthera, Gold Threads

Alternanthera ficoidea 'Aurea Nana'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade - P. Sun
Height: 8 x 8 inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Terrariums, Shady RxR Gardens

Alternanthera are popular in public gardens because of the colorful show they perform in mass and their tolerance of pruning shears. Allow it to be a golden tropical tree or trim the top for a bushy annual specimen outdoors in the faery or railroad landscape.

Alternanthera, Red Threads

Alternanthera ficoidea 'Red'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade - P. Sun
Height: 10 x 10 inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Terrariums, Shade RxR Gardens

Bright red foliage contrast with any golden miniature. I can picture a jungle tabletop garden with "Oak-Leaf Ficus" and "Golden Baby's Breath" or with mini Impatien for a Hawaiian theme.

Anacyclus- Silver Kisses

Anacyclus pyrethrum var. 'Depressa Compacta'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun to P.Sun
Height: 2in. X 2 ft.
Water: Dry-Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Alpine Rockery, Garden Railroads, Groundcover, Hedges/Shrubs, Miniature/Faery Garden, Walk About

Peek under the silvery foliage and you'll find a red hue that is repeated in the buds which eventually open to a typical, but much smaller daisy of white petals and yellow centers. Together, the plant won't reach beyond your ankles.

Andromeda, Blue Ice

Andromeda polifolia 'Blue Ice' COPF

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun
Height: 12h x 24w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:RxR Filler

A.K.A. "Hardy Bog Rosemary," this low mounding shrub with icy blue, needled foliage shows off pinkish-white flowers May through July. It grows best in moist, but well drained soil supplemented with peat moss and rotted bark. Fills in the center of a railroad or rock garden. NOT NEW JUST MOVED TO HARDY SUN

Arenaria,

Arenaria ledebouriana

Cold Tolerance: Zone 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 9a
Light: P.Shade-P.Sun to P.Sun
Height: 1/2in. groundcover
Water: Wet-Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Alpine Rockery, Garden Railroads, Miniature/Faery Garden, Walk About

Arenaria, Micro Lawn

Arenaria balearica

Cold Tolerance: Zone 6b 7a 7b 8a 9a 9b-11
Light: P.Shade-P.Sun to P.Sun
Height: 1/2 inch
Water: Wet-Normal
Soil: Organic-Loamy
Common Uses:Alpine Rockery, Garden Railroads, Miniature/Faery Garden, Walk About

Rivals only ""True Elfin Thyme"" for the tightest, lowest, most micro-leaved groundcover we've spyed. Perfect ""Walk-About"" for those too sunny OR not sunny enough pathways. Because it needs good drainage and frequent water, it is the ideal lawn for mini landscapes and railroad gardens. Thyme-sized, white flowers decorate the foliage like frosting buds on a cake.

Artemisia, Tiny Green

Artemisia viridis 'Tiny Green'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 9a
Light: Full Sun to P.Sun
Height: 2in. x 8
Water: Dry-Normal
Soil: Sandy
Flowers: Middle Summer
Common Uses:Alpine Rockery, Garden Railroads, Groundcover, Miniature/Faery Garden, Walk About

Shrink a ""Silver Mound"" artemesia to a 2"" bush, turn it greenish gray and you have this equally soft, fine textured cousin. Sweet fragarance and, for an Artemisia, it seems to handle the summer humidity pretty darn well.

Artemisia, Tiny Silver

Artemisia ruprestris

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun
Height: 2h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Shrub

A.K.A. "Rock Wormwood" which could refer to its rock hardiness, (native to the Yukon Territory of Canada) or its natural place in a rock garden. Delicate flowers reveal its membership in a aster family though it looks like a miniature, "Silver Mound Artemisia," G-Scale "Thriller" shrub.

Baby Tears, Golden

Soleirolia soleirollii 'Aurea'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 8a 9a 9b-11
Light: P.Shade-P.Sun to Shade
Height: 1in. groundcover
Water: Wet-Normal
Soil: Organic
Common Uses:Garden Railroads, Groundcover, Houseplants, Miniature/Faery Garden, Shade, Walk About

Golden Baby Tears is a bright gold version of the popular houseplant. Micro leaves create a magical ground cover for railroad gardeners in the south, year round, and a standard for lawns in mini landscapes in the north, inside in winter & outside each spring.

Babys Breath, Pink Faery Flower

Gypsophilia repens rosea

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a
Light: Full Sun
Height: 4h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Shrub

Frothy mounds of airy, pale pink flowers cover semi-evergreen, low lying foliage, summer through fall.

Bamboo, Wooster's Dwarf

Pleioblastus pygmaea disticha 'Woosters Dwarf'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 9a 9b-11
Light: P.Shade-P.Sun to Shade
Height: 4in. groundcover
Water: Normal
Soil: Organic
Flowers: No
Common Uses:Alpine Rockery, Garden Railroads, Groundcover, Hedges/Shrubs, Miniature/Faery Garden, Shade, Walk About

What!? 4"", HARDY bamboo? Impossible, but perfectly true for cold, shady gardens as groundcover or with miniature hostas in troughs. Fills the bill for sorely needed vertical interest with an exotic, Asian touch.

Begonia, Blue Cuban

Begonia cubensis

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade
Height: 12h x 12w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Tree

Discovered in Cuba in 1858, it has small, waxy grayish green leaves on short, thin woody stems. The best part is the nearly continuous, bright pink flowers held above the foliage. Add to that, it is a mildew resistant, easy to grow compact begonia a.k.a. “Cuban Holly.”

Begonia, Fuchsia Red

Begonia fuchsioides 'Rubra'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade
Height: 16h x 12w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Tree, Bees, Butterflies

Glossy is what begonias are all about and this red blooming beauty follows suit. Not to be outdone, sumptuous, fuchsia type flowers dangle like heavy ear rings. Imagine that in your home this winter.

Begonia, Mini Maple-Leaf

Begonia partita

Light: P.Shade to Shade
Height: 8 x18in.
Water: Dry-Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Bonsai, Garden Railroads, Houseplants

Even the most expensive railroad set-ups often lack great plants. Set yours apart with a mini Maple leaf tree and with white flowers. The scale of leaf to tree is a bit large but it's too unique to pass up. No doubt it's a begonia, so it's easier to care for indoors next winter and it's a bit fleshy, but the main stem soon gets woody in appearance creating a tree for a shady miniature garden. Great Jar-Gem TM for the shade.

Begonia, Red Planet

Begonia 'Red Planet'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade
Height: 5h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Shrub, Houseplant

Though it is an excellent ornamental for a shady summer garden, it'll be ready to jump into a container and onto a winter windowsill. Dark maroon to chocolate brown splotches zigzag over its smooth, glossy leaves resulting in a unique and adorable specimen.

Begonia, Rhinestone Jeans

Begonia 'Rhinestone Jeans'

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade
Height: 4h x 6w inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Shrub, Houseplant

Yes! Four inches tall by six inches of cuteness in the form of deep green leaves with purple-black mottling and heavy “eyelash” edges. Begonias do not want to be overwatered. You'll strike that balance between slight moisture and soggy, the latter being what you avoid.

Begonia, Richardsiana

Begonia richardsiana

Light: P.Shade to Shade
Height: 8 x18in.
Water: Dry-Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Jar-Gems TM, Bonsai, Houseplants

Bonsai's popularity waxes and wanes, in part, because, depending on the species you choose, it could be like adopting a child. Why not choose a plant that is naturally exotic in appearance but easier to maintain and shape? Choose this 1' tall tropical with mini ""Rex Begonia""-like leaves and you'll soon discover the stems will form huge swollen, caudex bases. Step back, observe, prune a little and you are on your way. By the way, if you're new to bonsai, connect with a local club for a rich resource of knowledge and interesting folks. Another great Jar-Gem TM for the shade.

Begonia, Tiny Fuchsia

Begonia foliosa var putzeysiana

Cold Tolerance: Zone 9b-11
Light: P. Shade
Height: 9 x 9 inches
Water: Normal
Soil: Sandy-Loamy
Common Uses:Mini Tree, Bonsai

This world's smallest leaved begonia “dressed in fuchsia's clothing” will eventually grow up, in 5 to 10 years! Glossy green foliage sits well with non-stop, rose colored flowers not unlike a floral ballet.