I don't see a Cottage garden forum here - am I missing it?

Deb, you and I were posting at the same time...but I do want to say I love your garden. Jo

Now Jude...you and I posted at the same time....LOL Come on down here next summer and visit ...we'll go sit in Azbelle's garden....LOL Jo

now I'm confused too. I think pweelee is refering to the Queen of England. I don't believe the troll means to offend.

A plant "collection" sounds nice. I have a tendancy to buy one of everything until I see how well it does and how easy it is to propagate. One must think in the long term. But "ad hoc area that holds" sounds quite temporary!
carol

This message was edited Oct 28, 2006 8:44 PM

Well just so I don't confuse anyone, this isn't an additional voice for a Cottage Gardening forum request as I doubt I'd use it. I was just curious about the request and somehow it turned into a strange quiz involving hats!

we're just waiting patiently for the forum to open. in the meantime, went a little haywire, but we're back on track now.

Thank You, Justfurkids, I did wonder who it was supposed to be!

The ad hoc area is temporary, there is little that is permanent about a garden ;)

Jo, if I get down your way next summer, I 'll definately take you up on that. Lots to do before now and then for us all and I can't plan too far in advance these days. One day sort of blends into the next most weeks and then I look at the calendar and wonder where an entire month has gone.

running on empty tonight, sorry

That's certainly true Baa. A garden is always a work in progress. I visited your websites hoping to get a glimpse of your garden, with no luck. Loved the poem on the pronunciation of cyclamen.

I've always been facinated with the English. I was once told by a teacher that my maiden name means inside the enclosure. Then another Englishman over the interent told me I was descended from the mistresses of kings, so who wouldn't be enthralled?
carol

Most people would be horrified seeing our garden Justfurkids LOL, it's definitely not a visitors paradise. Here's an image from a couple of years ago of one of the borders, I should entitle the image "spot the pond" http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=1903497

I think names are fascinating too, recently I was looking up where my surname came in the Surname Profiler Project.

That definitely qualifies as a cottage garden!

It looks nothing like that now, we don't like to tie ourselves down to the restrictions of a particular style or formality.

Oh Baa I love it...the textures and colors. Certainly not all accidental? But you're right, I don't spot a pond. lol I hadn't thought of burgandys and silvers together. Now I am rethinging my Ninebark and Elderberry Black Beauty with lavender perhaps! Oh I am so glad you shared this picture.

See Terry & Dave we need a cottage garden forum!

Now I must go look up Surname Profiler Project and shush a barking dog.
carol

I can't spot it. Put in the arrow, Baa.
Gosh I'll never show myself in a hat on DG ever again!
Queenie (I may be delusional)

Baa, I simply adore your plantings. It's jsut the sort of thing I like, all together, not rows and spaced out like someone is planting rows or veggies. For me a garden should entice your eye to seek further things, rather than just show you bunches of this and that all tidy.

I for one am all for this style. Now if I can manage it here in the desert is another story.

I'll keep you all posted on the progress.

Nite,

Jude

Baa, do I sense that to a serious gardener from England a "cottage garden" is an unintentional and messy failure to achieve a proper "border" or some other more noble form of horticulture? Perhaps in your opinion a "cottage garden" is just an "ad hoc" area that has become a jumble unworthy of being called anything other than a "cottage garden"? The term "cottage garden" has nothing in my mind to do with the size of the dwelling. The gal (ol' waht's her name with all those ugly hats) could tuck a "cottage garden" behind one of her castle walls, if she so desired. And I expect that there are a few notable gardens other than "cottage gardens" planted by humble crofters in your fair land. I, also, don't believe that a "cottage garden" has to be a messy mass of mismatched plants that have no relationship in color, size or texture to their whole. I assume that the goal of most of this group of self acclaimed "cottage gardeners" is that we wish to plant a well loved, diverse collection of plants that can be arranged in an informal setting and that can be managed without paid help with results that are satisfying. I know that most of us who are true, down on our knees, weed pulling fools, could not ever achieve a grand "border garden" , but I think most of us truly admire anyone who can. My pockets aren't deep enough, my ability too limited, my knowledge still too sparse to grow a border or a notable shrubbery or a world class alpine collection. but my passion to grow my "cottage garden" is achievable. You mentioned that you have an area that "holds a collection", so perhaps my "cottage garden" could be viewed by you as my attempt at a casual organization of my disjointed "collection" and hence forth you can refer to it as just a garden. I do totally agree with you that gardening is better for your sanity than being a milliner and that a garden has no permanence. But isn't that one of the reasons we love it? I also love DG and all that it's members share with me. I find the resources remarkable. I know you are vital to its success, but throw us novices a bone, support our little request and forgive our lack of respect for the royal hats and foolishness. Patti

This message was edited Oct 29, 2006 1:10 AM

I like the Queen's hats

Claypa, I prefer her Mum's hats to hers, but believe me, seeing Boojum adorned with a good hat amongst her iris and roses is not to be matched by any royalty. I enjoyed seeing your Maine pictures. I have made a fair number of trips to Bar Harbor as my son lived there for 3 years, but always out of season. Patti

I'll put in my vote for a cottage garden forum. I think my 780 square foot home is really a cottage and that's what I call my style of gardening, although I'm not sure it would be called that by everyone. Sometimes I'm afraid it is more a "messy mass of mismatched plants", so maybe a forum would help me change it more into a real cottage garden.

Susan

Well Susan, you have 30 sq ft on me! LOL And a "messy mass of mismatched plants" is exactly what I have too.

Thank you Justfurkids and Pweelee! The grouping in the garden is entirely unintentional, we find that most things work regardless of time spent planning or the lack of which is more often the case. For the occasions where they don't it's easy enough to move them, our main problem is finding a spare inch of soil to plant *G*

Boojum, the pond is behind the borage, the tall Iris (behind the Variegated Holly) is in the water. I'm sure you look lovely in a "titfer"!

Bbrookrd

I'm not sure what you read into my posts but veiled attempts at snobbery, barely or otherwise, are not me. If I don't like something rest assured I will say so outright, I'm not known to be shy in voicing thoughts and ideas. I came in for a bit of fun in a thread that already turning that way.

To me a cottage garden is a space where one plants everything one needs for a household in a manner that makes use of the space available and no waste, i.e. all together with no distinction between the eventual uses of the plants. How people choose to arrange their plants is entirely up to them and absolutely nothing to do with me, I make no judgement on anyones garden design or planting nor do I expect to be judged in turn since I'm the one who has to live with it.

Words like unworthy, messy failure, disorganisation do not exist in the gardening sense in anything other than a thoroughly positive way. Unworthy and failure are merely stepping stones on the way to experience and disorganisation can look superb. I don't believe I gave any opinion on the "cottage garden" style, only that we don't consider ours in that style although there are elements we include such as often choosing veg and herbs as much for their ornamental appearance as anything else and incorporating some into the borders, not because we necessarily choose to but because like most people here, garden space is extremely limited and needs must when life sticks flies in your soup and your neighbours insist on keeping their gardens to themselves.

What I did say was that I probably wouldn't use the forum and so was not a voice that was pro a CG forum and therefore have no opinion on whether one is created or not. It's one of the great things about DG in that I have no more say in what goes on in the forums than the very newest member, the DG admin are wonderfully fair in that way (I'm not a DG Admin so there's no fanfare) so whether I want this forum or no is not going to make any difference to the final decisions :)


This message was edited Oct 29, 2006 11:29 AM

Good morning Baa and fellow cottage gardeners! I apologize if I helped stir up too much trouble last night. But I must admit the ducking and running was fun.

Baa, thanks for the reference to Surname Profiler Project. I am more English than I thought! :-) I've passed on the info to my older sister who acts as keeper of the ancestoral records. Still can't find your pond, even with directions. I'll be over with my search & rescue dog and GPS someday. :-)

Baa, I am greatly pleased that you too choose to plant the odd herb and edible within the bounds of your border. I did think you were being a bit on the snob, but after seeing that you grow borage, I found comfort . Not, that as you said " I make no judgement on anyone's garden design or planting nor do I expect to be judged in turn since I'm the one who has to live with it." In fact with the exception of a few friends and DG members via the Internet, no one can see our gardens. Therefore my husband and my efforts are completely for our visual enjoyment. Flowers are the ultimate Eye Candy. We do grow herbs and a few edibles in our beds, though we found supporting our neighborhood farmer far more realistic than having to eat mounds of the same variety of a vegetable before enjoying the next type that ripens. Growing up in a suburban Oklahoma neighborhood, I only knew the "foundation" planting, the "garden" which was only for edible plants and the "flower bed" which had a couple of rose bushes and a few annuals surrounded by the "yard" which was crab grass and a few trees and a small bit of pasture for my horse. He ate every rose I planted! The planting passion came late to me, and perhaps because of this, I am a little too sensitive to any notion that what I am attempting to do is less worthy than anothers effort. No flies in my soup! I am off to get dirt in my nails and plant some more bulbs. Sping is not far behind! Patti

I love the idea of a Cottage Garden forum! I've enjoyed reading about Gertrude Jeckell and seeing pics of some of her wonderful cottage gardens. She (if I remember correctly) defined the cottage garden as designed to have the appearance that all the elements occured there naturally. While that sounds easy, the designing of a cottage garden gets complex getting bloom sequence and color harmony to work, and that trial and error aspect is a labor of love. I also love the way the cottage garden showcases a plants tendency to sprawl, spill over path, reseed in suprising places, or meander among its neighbors. Traditional cottage garden plants like roses, peonies, delphinium, digitalis, etc. are also among my favorites too :)
Neal

Not at all Just4, and welcome Neal,
I'm off to pick up pine srraw for the garden path today. It's coming down from Flagstaff and I have to pick get it the other side of Phoenix. Great score! sicnce it's not available here at all.

Have wonderful days, planning, discussing etc. I'll check back in later

Jude

LOL Justfurkids! The Surname Profiler's a good site isn't it.

Bbrookrd

I've honestly no idea where you'd get the idea of snobbery from my posts. Lifes too short to dwell on negatives which may be only due to writing style or missing the emoticons etc. No idea why growing borage helps in the non snob stakes either but hurrah for borage anyway! ;)

Baa, since you area a BF admin, I will ask you...I am looking out my office window, on a break from a very lovely and productive day in the garden, and what do I spy, but a bunch of lady bugs between the window and the screen. About 25 of them. What on earth is this about?

carol
Yes great site. Thanks again for the tip.

Try Harmonia axyridis, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Great link, those are what infested my dad's condo building a few summers ago in Chicago and they all had one heck of a time. They were so bad they came thru the a/c ductwork and were in all the apartments.

thanks claypa.

The borage plant as described in Rodale's Illust. Ency. of Herbs, " borage may be a little rough and sprawling for a formal garden it is attractive in the herb garden, blends nicely with wild flowers, and goes well in the vegetable garden or the cottage style garden." Thus I was alluding to the fact that it ain't a fancy plant. I have candied the blossoms in the past, but this summer I found no returning seedlings. I will have to purchase it anew this spring. I enjoy it the same way I love angelica and sweet Cicely. We make a special ice cream treat out of the pods of sweet Cicely before they get tough. It taste just like a "Good and Plenty". Anyway I didn't mean to appear negative, rather only committed. I'll eat some borage and take comfort to the heart. Patti

Justfurkids, We have ladybugs galore move in mass into our Vt house every fall at this time. A new variety was introduced from Asia a few years back that has become very prevalent. They seem larger than our regular LB's. They huddle up in the corners of the ceilings until spring when they move back outside. Some people's houses have so many ( shovel fulls) , that they have the exterminators come in to eradicate them. We have fist sized groups, but they are no problem, so we share the space. They have not appeared here in Nantucket yet. Patti

Justfurkids, I just googled "ladybug invasion" and many interesting articles pop up. You will know more than you wanted. Patti

Oh those invaders have driven me absolutely crazy! Two years ago I'd vacuum several hundred
a day in the master bedroom. They were just everywhere. They'd come buzzing over & land on
my face or hands or hair at night while I was reading. Oh they really did drive me half mad. I hope
they don't come bad in such numbers again!
Tma

Aren't cottage gardens a British style? I thought they relaxed things from all that French fussiness. Baa, you guys have to make do with the old England, Hampshire, London, York and Jersey and we have all the new ones here. ;^)
Dave

justfk, I had the same thing happen in between my windows, luckily I found most of them in time to release them.

I vote for a Cottage/English garden forum!!!

Found this forum while in garden talk. I started out making my new garden and told myself I must be strict with myself and not plant every interesting plant I came acroos ( or could cadge off friends!) Hovwever, old habits die hard and i have ended up with what has turned out to be another cottaage garden. It is so rewarding and not many weeks go by without something of interest to admire.

I would love a Cottage Garden forum!!

Me too.

ferrymead, that's exactly why most of us garden! what fun to walk around the garden every day and find something new blooming and come back in the house excited about gardening all over again.

here is a cross-stitch that I look at every day that inspires my gardening and makes me more and more want to get away from the standard suburban foundation landscaping '2 junipers, 2 yews, 2 goldmound spirea, assorted daylilies......and a partridge in a pear tree'. this is Ann Hathaway's garden (and cottage).

Baa, can you tell us? is this typical of an English cottage garden? this is how I want mine to look.

Seems some of my garden is heading the way of a cottage garden, so I'd be interested in a forum like this. I'm putting in another bed next year and it will be in this style as well. Love to see what others are doing or have done or want to do with regards to cottage gardens.

Baa, thanks for mentioning the Surname Profiler. I'm big into genealogy and found it rather interesting, so interesting in fact that I've missed my lunch because I was too busy typing in all the family names, lol.

Erynne

The thatched roof in that cross stitch reminds me of my trips to the UK and the wonder of those roofs. Although here we call it English country garden, is it really or is it just a garden? I saw what you describe as the standard suburban foundation landscaping while in the UK although not nearly as much as here and also the sort in your pic....but mostly in rear not front areas.

Anyway, by wahatever name, in whatever country or climate......... I'm all for gardens which are free-flowing, give their owner/tender a great sense of peace and which others may enjoy too. Mostly, I garden for myself, totally selfish in that regard since I don't give a hoot if anyone else likes where I want to place something or if I include or discard it. It's my garden so I'll plany it as I wish.

I have a neighbor who does front and side (corner lot) plantings of sweet peas, cauliflower and I don't know what else in a strip along the roadside. It's quite charming and I'll ask if they mind a photo so I can post it here. The strip is only about 2.5 ft. from the road and that is cut in half by their posts and wire structure. I love the look and always slow (down from the posted 25mph) when passing.