Any idea or thoughts of how I can get a "cottage garden look" using xeriscape plants for my less than magnificent 3X10 foot garden along a fence, in a courtyard, with only about 5 hours of direct sun? With the bad winter we had, most of my plants have died - I figured it might be a good time to start - or give up. Two confederate jasmines, salvias, verbenas and the bottlebrush tree are pretty much all I have planted ATM.
I would guess that 5 hours of Texas sun would translate to full sun here.
I wish I could be of more help but have no real experience in Texas gardening.
You might try some seeds that would come up random like moss rose then a tall something? do larkspur grow there? I think daisy type plants always look cottage like.
Please don't give up
I'm in California & my area isn't nearly as hot or cold as San Antonio. But I like lavender, penstemon, ornamental grasses, agastache. Check out High Country Gardens - they specialize in xeriscape plants & you can get lots of good ideas for your zone from their website.
Thanks for all your help....I know that I want a grass or two - just haven't found one I like. And I've collected seeds, which are now starting to come up in the seed tray in the kitchen window. I'm excited about the native Texas clematis (leather flower) that is coming up from seed. I heard for cottage gardens, randomness works - and If you have a space, plant something there, but I'm afraid I'm going to get too random, or stick to too many of the same color plants. Do y'all worry at all about color in a cottage garden? I'm pretty much stuck on red and purple (or blue) - but I think that distracts from the randomness of it all.
The real nice thing about gardening is if you don't like it, there is always next year.
My garden is only called a cottage garden because they don't have a class called crazy/chaos .
I think start with color you like, don't worry you will see a plant you just have to have and your color scheme will expand.
but I'm afraid I'm going to get too random, or stick to too many of the same color plants. Do y'all worry at all about color in a cottage garden?
here is an area that didnt look as good... but i'm still working on it. I think this was the first year for this area of the bad.
tcs1366 - yes, that is what I want my garden to get to some day. I'm working on it. And taking pictures of it monthly and posting it to my blog. I hope one of these days to inspire someone else's garden. This summer - definitely rudbeckia. It is one of my favorite plants, but I won't find it here until the hot dry summer approaches.
My only rule is "taller plants in the back." I love the calm colors, but the husband likes bright oranges, yellows and reds. So..... much of my garden is pink, purple and blue, and the part that I call "the wilds" is filled with bright colored lillies, gallardia, daylillies, poppies, orange butterfly weed, black-eyed susans, and apricot sunrise agastache. And I plant coneflowers EVERYWHERE. If I like it, I plant it. If it's a perennial on clearance, I buy it. If the plant doesn't do well where I plant it, I move it. People always say the love my garden, and they ALL can't be lying. :-)
ladybug_pc, I have a question for you, or anyone reading this thread - so, I so much would love all perennials, but I'm not sure that's practical. What percentage of perennials do you have in your garden? Is there a tried and true formula?
for me... i'd take a wild guess at 80% perennials for me.
off the top of my head... annuals would be, and this is not every year, just what i have seeds for.... some times they germinate, sometimes they dont. [one year, i had NO marigolds... not one, though i tossed a lot of seeds.]
annuals...
marigolds, varying heights and colors
Zinnias, varying heights and colors
Calendula officinalis
Celosia argentea var. spicata
Amaranthus cruentus
Asclepias curassavica
Linum Rubrum [Flax]
Salvias, varying sizes and colors, though mostly red
4 O'Clocks, Mirabilis jalapa
Brazilian Bachelor Buttons, Centratherum intermedium
Bachelor Buttons , Centaurea cyanus
Cosmos
that should give you a pretty good idea.
Most everything in the ground is a bulb or a perennial. I just make sure to choose plants/bulbs that flower are a variety of times. I plant annuals in pots and have them on the porch and in the garden as well. Annuals will bloom all season, but it gets expensive replacing them every year. For example, for a few years I edged my garden with wave petunias. Two years ago I changed to purple heart. (the bummner is that the harsh winter we had this year may have killed my purple heart).
I do have some annuals in the ground that self seed or I collect the seeds (gomphrena, foxglove, cleome, johnny jump-ups, zinnias, balsam, poppies, portulaca).
Each year it gives me great satisfaction to wander around the garden to see perennials are returning.
Be sure to check Lowes' clearance rack. Some stores doe a great job placing perenials on the rack after they have bloomed. I bought several coneflowers, peonies, hostas, and black and blue salvia for a fraction of the cost.
Again, just plant what you want and what your pocket-book can afford. (I have champagne tastes but a kool aid pocket book) Be sure to post more pictures as your garden develops.
Mangus... one of the best resources for plants/seeds are the trading forums right here on Daves.
out of all the plants i have... I maybe only a handful of plants every year, a side from Hostas, which i spend way too much one. 99% of my plants in my back flower beds, were grown by seeds.
tcs, I haven't traded anything yet, and wasn't sure about how good the experience would be. What can you tell us?
I have not have ONE bad experience.
seeds, plants... all been great swaps.
if you are ever concerned about a person, you can check their "feedback"
if they have none, you dont have to trade.
and I've had A LOT over the 3 yrs i've been here.
Thanks!
My answer to the perennial / annual question would be about 90 /10 . I rarely buy an annual the ones I have are usually self sown. I guess I consider them almost perennials
I have had balsam ,cleome,larkspur,and bachelors buttons so long I have forgotten where they came from. I collect seeds from a few and yes have traded with several members here on Dave's. All my trades have been positive also ^_^
I think if you are just starting a perennial garden annuals are a good filler plant. I have a tendency to place my plants too close so having annuals as place holders is good. They will also give good color while the perennial garden grows up. Perennials in general take 3 years to reach maturity.
Thanks - feedback has been very helpful. I have a few annuals, I think the salvias I got earlier in the season are annuals, but here in San Antonio, some annuals can easily be bi-annuals. My mother had a begonia on her patio, which she didn't winter over, and it made it three years, until the unnaturally cold winter killed it this year.
I have some seeds I'm growing now, that I've gathered from friends, and I've been able to donate some seeds I gathered last year from my snapdragon vine to a member earlier this year. It was rather a rewarding experience knowing someone wanted something that grows so easily for me.
I'll keep y'all updated on the progress of my xeriscaped cottage garden.
I think when you say "xeriscape" you mean something that will grow in your heat and dry without a lot of fooling with? Not necessarily succulents and cactus and such that require serious dryness, right?
I'd say go with natives. Just pack them in a little tighter than they might naturally choose to be, to get that cottage effect. Around here, what gets called butterfly garden a lot of times is what someone else might call cottage - lots of color, masses rather than specimen plants, varied heights and textures http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/downloads/sun_and_color_s.pdf is way more than 3x10, but maybe offers some plant choices that wouldwork in your setting. I'd add passionflower, running up one of those hanger poles, and tropical milkweed.
What is your little tree? Something that blooms, hopefully? Maybe think about dessert willow or retama. They'll add some interest without a lot of shade or low branches. Does it have to stay shorter than the fence?
You might try to squeeze in a small water source, maybe a hanging birdbath. That will make a big different in attracting birds and such, which will track in new seeds with them. Oh! and tuck in a few schoolhouse lilies.
Have fun! It's a neat little niche to fill up...
Here is my drought tolerant cottage garden. A little different than the others shown here. Almost all of these were grown from seed ... not the purple sedum though. :o)
This garden does not get any extra water at all and is in full sun by the hot blacktop road.
gorgeous TooFew!!
what's that purple salvia" in the back corner??
that's my kinda purple.
It is called Caradonna Salvia.
Caradonna is a deeper purple than the May Night Salvia most of us know, and it has dark purple stems increasing the depth of color for each spike while May Night has green stems.
The plants were very easy to grow from seed like most Salvia I've tried. The plant in front of it is Walkers Low catmint. Walkers Low doesn't produce seeds, but I was told that it will grow from cuttings very easily, so I did that and ended up with 'several' new plants. ☺
The problem with this garden is most of the plants bloom together, but it is in an area that has a very short growing/blooming time, that it seems like it is blooming for most of the summer. LOL
I do have Helenium in the very back (not blooming in this picture, that grew from seed) that blooms in Aug/Sept and just love it!
I guess I'm more like Ladybugs husband, I ♥ a very bright colorfull garden. I've tried for the beautiful cooler look of your garden tcs, but never quite make it. I think your type of garden actually takes more of an 'eye', and you definitely have it!
Edited to say, this garden is all perennial, but most of my gardens are 70/30. I love to grow from seed and just have to have some space to plant, so 30% remains open for my annuals. But as time goes on, I'm leaning toward the 80/20 mark. :o(
This message was edited Mar 29, 2010 8:43 AM
Ahhhh -- that "walkers" is on my list of must haves.... for Charlie of course.
and i'd love some seeds from Caradonna.... Do I have anything you need? *wink*
tcs, this garden is not at my house, its at the cottage. It truly is a cottage, only for the summer really, so sadly we are never there for the seed producing months. I'll really try and make a trip there this fall and see if I can get some and offer it on the piggy swap (saving some for you of course).
thanks...
I also recommend that you go and check out the High Country Gardens website. They have the most marvelous plants.
For lots of continueing color in that area I recomment the Agastache, the ones for the hummers called Hummingbird Mints. Wonderful plants, once they start flowering they continue until frost. I also would add Catmint, walkers low, never needs water and blooms all the time. Then I would add some of the upright Sedums, they also need very little water as they store it in their fleshy leaves. There are some dark leaved varieties that contrast wonderfully with the Agastache.
I would also grow some vines up in the back up the fence to add height in the garden. My personal favorites are vining honeysuckles, clematis and morning glories.
Tew Few I love that garden! Very nice combination of color and shape! Love it. : )
Here's another question for you cottage gardeners...what would you do? When I came back from vacation, I had my typical weeding (mainly sunflower seedlings from the bird feeder), but I also had some seedlings that were not familiar to me, one may be a wild morning glory from the looks of it. Would you be prone to keep them in the garden to see what develops, or pluck them, regardless?
This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 11:56 AM
This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 12:01 PM
realbirdlady - Thanks for the input. The xeriscaping plants are not all succulents and cacti, and just draught tolerant natives and cultivars. The tree is a bottlebrush, it was a tiny twig when I bought it, but I could not resist. I did put a bird bath in the garden before vacation. I downloaded a new picture of the garden. This is the way it looks this month. The plant have taken off now that it is warmer.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 12:03 PM
The weather here has been so above normal everything is on fast forward . Been trying to catch up.
To answer the weed question I usually leave just one or two just in case it is something the birds left me . That is how I got my great blue lobelia .
how pretty... the only 'things left for me' are sunflowers. I think the squirrels bury them.
Things are really starting to grow! I found my first mistake in my cottage garden. Allowing the bouganvilla to continue to live. It totally grew out of its pot, and was taking over the very small garden. I transplanted it with a mandevilla. I really wanted a perennial in the pot, but I so love mandevilla.
Now if I could just attach the right picture ;)
It looks really pretty :-))
How very nice!
Looks good! You're definitely getting the height with that little tree and the trellises. Are you having luck attracting birds?
I guess I would have thought mandevilla would be perennial down there, especially in a sheltered location.
Looks great!
Thanks! I'm designing it by trial and error, but want to include those things I really like too! Could have done some real damage at the Wildfire Farm in Fredericksburg TX this week, but I refrained.
Realbirdlady - I've had a mandevilla before, and I was able to overwinter it two winters. After the second winter, it grew but never bloomed, so I removed it. I'm hoping for better luck this year. I can overwinter it indoors if I need to.
As for birds, I've had the usual luck with birds; hummingbirds, cardinals, finches, sparrows, bluejays and white wing doves mainly. The sparrows and finches have found the statch of bird seed I put out for the blue jays and sparrows, so they're not going to the feeder anymore. When the seed runs out, I'll put sunflower kernals in the feeder in hopes they'll go back to feeding at the feeder.
I've always loved gardening and feeding the birds, and I'm thrilled to have a place to garden and to feed the birds.
Well, it's June, and I think I've planted too many plants. Yeah, I know the wisdon is that a cottage garden can't have too many plants, but it's such a small area and there is just not room for one or two more. Some of the larger, faster growing plants are now drowning out some of the smaller and slower growing plants - but, the smaller ones are perennials, so should have a leg up next year. Ah, there is always next year, and I'll be one year the wiser. I'll need it!
Looks great to me!
