Specialty Gardening: A Southern Cottage Garden, 1 by JudyinGA

JudyinGA wrote:
Pippi21,
So glad you enjoyed your re-visit to Kay's garden. I haven't even been down there this year but she says it just gets prettier every year ... she says she guesses because it's maturing. She hasn't had as much time to devote to it this year because she has a somewhat new, thriving antiques business (that's where she gets some of that gorgeous rusty stuff). I don't think she has any sweet shrub, but I remember it growing wild in the woods near our house when I was a kid. Coming home from school we'd all pick a bud and smush it between our fingers. What a delightful scent. Wisteria grows wild here too and is considered invasive ... but oh, so pretty draping over the trees along the highways.

I only wish I had gardens like Kay's. I puttered around in 2009, then got started in earnest in 2010 and had beds prepared by a landscaping company. Went as hard as I could but only got part of the front planted before I gave out. I soon realized that gardens like Kay's take years to prepare and mature. Plus, there are two of them and only one of me. Last year I had bad health problems and did hardly anything. This year I'm going to go slower and have the help of portable oxygen to keep me from giving out so bad. I bought two ferns and some petunias for my front hanging baskets yesterday, plus four bright yellow tomato cages (LOL). Hope I can get all that done, hung and planted plus clean up the front porch a bit. I bought new cushions for the wicker chairs last year but never got the porch clean enough that I wanted to put them out. Plus, they may clash with the porch floor ... and you know what that means ... paint it. Groan.

There is a bunch of stuff on my back deck that is still sitting in pots. I'm trying to make myself plant all that before I buy anything else. I definitely am a plant hoarder. LOL I would love to have "rooms" in my huge back yard but I can't figure out how to do it ... divide it up ... whatever you want to call it. I sit and stare and try to imagine them but nothing concrete has hit home yet. I definitely am a cottage garden person ... I love the abandoned disorder and different colors and textures that just sort of come together. I will definitely send photos as I make ANY progress this year. All the people on Dave's have been so supportive and encouraging. Don't know what I'd do without them.

All I have so far are my Knockout roses that are going nuts in spite of being neglected last year. Here's what I'm working with. I have red petunias waiting to go in hanging basket for the front of the porch and Boston ferns for the side. Plus, I have Lantanas and Blue Daze for the planters at the foot of the steps. The second photo shows the front area (back in 2010 before the roses were planted) where I'm working now. Let's see if I can get that done today.