Thanks Critter, I'll keep the chocolate daisy in mind. This year I'm working on my shady beds. They're pretty bare and in dire need of crowding the weeds out. (I'm not into ground covers yet.)
So what makes a Cottage Garden, well, "Cottagey"?
Oh, good! I have a lot of shade, too! Didn't think it could be real cottagey, but I think I'll have to revise that opinion! Right now mine is a beautiful green with wall-to-wall English Ivy. And I'll share wth anybody who wants to come and dig it out.
Suzy
Critter-
I think someone sold you the wrong chocolate daisy...
I grow them, and here is what mine look like. They definitely smell of chocolate!
The flowers are tiny, and have red/maroon stamens. They also have silvery foliage that looks just like a dandelion, but silver...
-T
Here is a closeup of the flowers
and finally the seed pods...
I really like those seedpicker! Here's a link that I've found interesting.
http://www.chocolateflowerfarm.com/
This little nursery is really something - the couple who own it started out with it just being a bit of a "hobby," but it has taken off like wildfire! Anybody who is ever out this way should definitely make a point of visiting it (not right now, they're closed for the winter). It has the feel of someone's garden and garden shed with ducks running around, etc. Delightful. I feel fortunate to live close.
I love the name! What a play on White Flower Farm. I've bookmarked it.
We had a local mom n pop nursery that always had chickens wandering around. I used to think it so endearing.
I told the guy who owned it how neat I thought it was. He said it was annoying because they layed their eggs in all his plants and pots, lol....
The next week I bought a dozen chickens, so I could enjoy them walking through MY gardens and leaving their eggs in MY pots, lol...
Laughing! I love it when they have a cat or dog laying around! How nice to have a place for chickens at the spur of the moment. DD has free rangers. Her first experience since she grew up a town girl. I love to see them run. My great Aunt and Grandma both had chickens, so I'm partial.
I never had any prior to that purchase, but I just love them. And, they are MUCH smarter than most people think!
One was my very, very favorite. She just died after 9 1/2 years, which I'm told is a long time for a chicken...
If you called her name, or even if she just saw me, she would RUN across the yard. When she got to me, she'd scratch my shoe. (her cue for me to pick her up.). I'd pick her up and carry her around until my arm got tired...
Many times she flat fall asleep in my arms. When I wasn't carrying her, she would follow me everywhere I went...I miss her. :o(
She was also a "talker". I'd talk to her, and she cock her head, look up at me, and make little noises, trying to talk back, lol...it was really cute. Can't believe I still get tears talking about her...*sniff
Wow, no wonder those on the poultry thread say they love their chickens. I understand now. I had no idea chickens could be affectionate. That is one cool chicken! 9 1/2 years does seem long. Maybe she had you to live for.
This message was edited Nov 19, 2006 10:42 PM
I really dole out a lot of affection to my pets, and hope that it has something to do with their longevity.
Just makes it even harder when they die, to have had them so long...
This is my little 2 1/2 lb. yorkie. He is a whopping 18 yrs old...
He thinks he's a little person, lol
This message was edited Nov 19, 2006 10:48 PM
He's so cute! He doesn't look old at all. I'll bet that is why they have a long life.
I also had no idea that chickens were affectionate - what a darling story!!! I wouldn't dare have them around here, though, as we have coyotes in the area . . . I hear them howling sometimes at night, even during the day on occasion.
And that dog is precious - just the size I want when the time comes for me to get a dog.
Reminds me of the story I used to tell my daughter when she was little. How when she was a tiny baby, I would carry her in my pocket, I think she was five before she finally called me on it. LOL
Hmmm.... I got my 'Chocolate Daisy' seeds in a trade, so they could well be "wrong." The blooms look similar, only larger, but the leaves and the seed heads on mine remind me a lot of Echinacea. I just sent a bunch of these seeds out to Alicewho's Wintersowing Swap, too! *sigh* Well, at least it's a pretty flower, even if there doesn't seem to be anything chocolatey about the scent.
Seedpicker, do you have seeds for the "real" Chocolate Daisy? I would love to trade for them...
(Sorry to hear you lost your favorite chicken... what a special critter!)
Oh, and to get back on track... It seems to me that a "cottage garden" needs some loose-growing, less formal looking plants... maybe a few things that form tidy mounds or archetectural spears, but also plants like Guara, which tosses little blooms every which way on wiry stems.
Wouldn't you know, I don't have a photo of mine, but here are a couple of links with photos that show that habit of this plant...
http://www.evergreennurseryinc.net/plants/guara.htm
http://www.hort.usu.edu/PlantGuide/html/perennials/Guara_lindheimeri.htm
What other plants do you like as "fillers" between more tidy or large-flowered specimens?
Critter-
Yes, I have some. D-mail me.
And, while I got off the subject a little(sorry) in a way, I think chickens roaming free range in the garden is very quaint & cottagey!, lol...
They are great bug control and fertilize as they go!!, lol...
Boy, wouldn't free range chickens give my back yard neighbor a FIT! (He's very uptight, and his idea of perfect landscaping is uninterrupted green grass.... he has decided to stop speaking to me since he hates my yard so much.) Unfortunately, since we aren't zoned for "livestock," I think his complaint would have a legal basis.
But I agree, chickens (and maybe a goat) are very "cottagey!"
YES! If you can have chickens, I think they're ever so cottagey! I plan to get three come spring (I'd get one, but the folks in the poultry forum tell me they need company -- 3 is the minimum) and I'll have no weeds, no bugs, fertile soil, fresh eggs, and all the entertainment I can handle. Well, that's the ideal plan, anyway.
And I agree it needs a cross between formal and messy -- balance your perfect topiary with a forsythia. And since I've mentioned forsythia, I'm getting two soon from the National Arbor Day Foundation. (If you need trees, check them out.) At the side of my house I've planted a border of ditch lilies and plan to put the forsythias inside that approximately 8 x 10 border. Any suggestions as to what else to put there? The area will only get morning sun.
Critter, a lot of places will allow a few chickens if they're pets. Not meaning to get you to push the envelope with your neighbor, but as long as you don't have a rooster or sell the eggs... ?
I agree that formal and messy are both part of a cottage garden. My rose garden is somewhat formal (although I've allowed Hollyhocks, daylilies, and a few other things to join in), but every other garden is pretty much wild looking. Just the way I want it!!!
I am not kidding when I say I would enjoy chickens, but again, the coyotes would be a problem, and maybe my cats as well? And I would adore having a goat - a Pygmy variety, but not only would they be prey for the coyotes, but my dh would have a fit!! LOL Our house is so contemporary that it would be a hoot to have chickens and goats!!! I doubt our community rules allow them anyway.
Continuous bloomers are what I like to see in a cottage garden, color all summer and on into fall. So I like gaillardia, achillea (yarrow) and salvias. Dayliles offer a nice contrast, both in bloom and foliage. I love the softness of grasses, and use pennisetum & schizachryrium (little bluestem) as smaller accent plants. I use lady's mantle's foamy flowers between taller, structural sedums, and mounds of purple sage to define the edge of a bed of echinacea and tall switchgrass; the velvety soft, silvery foliage of dusty miller is the perfect complement.
Sounds lovely, PrairieGirl! Texture and variety are essential.
Thanks brigidlily! I would love to hear what combinations you all have come up with.
Try giving your neighbors the eggs for a while. They won't tell on you if you've given them fresh eggs.
That is what we did. They are not "allowed" here, but even the city admitted that if no one tells on you, or complains, you can have them, and the rules are not enforced.
I never had more than six at a time, or less than two. That way they have company in each other, but also few enough to get to know them as pets. The females are pretty quiet, unless there is something they are afraid of, or mad at.
The males on the other hand, will have your neighbors telling on you in no time!, lol...
Yes, coyotes and hawks are the ever present problem. For years, we only had to worry about the occasional raccoon at night, but now the hawks hunt around here daily.
I can only let them out of their large cage, if I am going to be out with them, and supervising. I try to let them out as long as possible, because they are happier that way, and make much better eggs from bugs, than seeds or pellets... Try giving your neighbors the eggs for a while. They won't tell on you if you've given them fresh eggs.
That is what we did. They are not "allowed" here, but even the city admitted that if no one tells on you, or complains, you can have them, and the rules are not enforced.
I never had more than six at a time, or less than two. That way they have company in each other, but also few enough to get to know them as pets. The females are pretty quiet, unless there is something they are afraid of, or mad at.
The males on the other hand, will have your neighbors telling on you in no time!, lol...
Yes, coyotes and hawks are the ever present problem. For years, we only had to worry about the occasional raccoon at night, but now the hawks hunt around here daily.
I can only let them out of their large cage, if I am going to be out with them, and supervising. I try to let them out as long as possible, because they are happier that way, and make much better eggs from bugs, than seeds or pellets...
-T
seedpicker, I'm building a chicken tractor with my son, and plan to keep them in there for the most part -- another reason to have only a very few. I wish I could rent some for a while to make sure I'm up for keeping them!
I don't know what a chicken tractor is...is that a moveable pen?
When I first bought my young chickens, they were only $10 a piece. That was of course, almost ten years ago...but I figured, that wasn't too much money, and worth an experiment.
Looking back that was nothing to pay, for all the years I have enjoyed them. If you buy them even younger, and not sexed, they can be even cheaper.
I learned from a old bird keeper, (and native american Indian!) how to sex them without a blood test. It really works and is quite helpful when trying to sex a bird that is otherwise not detectable. It also saves the dilemma of finding out half your chicks are boys, lol...
Dangle a piece of thread with a needle on it, holding the end of the thread and letting the needle dangle close to the bird. Hold it close to the "gender area". If the needle starts to swing in a line, it is a boy. If it swings in a circle, it is a girl. You can even try it on your own wrist.
-t
My chickens run around free during the day and get shut in during the night. Protected from the
racoons & foxes. But let me tell ya - they love digging & rootin' around in loose dirt! This past spring
I had to put chicken wire over several beds to give my plants a chance to settle in. The chickens
just kept digging them out. LOL (I was ready to have a big chicken BBQ when they dug out several
hundred dollars worth of terrestrial orchids. ... well not really but I was mighty annoyed!)
Here's a riotous bed I keep thinking of digging out and trying again but ... I never do. Its stuffed
with everything!
Seedpicker - I pay $1.50 to $3.0 for my chicks! The "fancy" ones are $3.
Yes, it's a moveable pen -- google "chicken tractor" and you will be amazed.
I've used that method on pregnant women, only putting her wedding ring on a string and letting it swing over her belly. I hope it works better on chickens. ;p
Tammy - Love those black-eyed susans! They're so cheerful. Do you grow them from seed, annual or perennials?
Tammy-
I guess I not only buy the fancy ones, but in a big city, they are much more expensive, than they'd probably be, if I were to buy from the country...
Brigidlilly-
I'll have to google chicken tractor...
Maybe the wedding ring couldn't get close enough, or the energy was mixed too much with the mothers?
It has worked really well for me on my dogs, chickens, birds, and even human wrists...
I'll try it out at home, but all my critters are fixed. I'll post results!
Chicks are also more expensive if you only buy a few. I sure can't order 25 (which is the usual minimum and has more to do with keeping each other warm than anything else) so the really cheap ones are out for me.
Oh, my, Tammy! Do NOT dig that bed for anything! It's wonderful, perfect, and I am soooo jealous! That is what I want. What are the rudbeckias? What are the delphineum? NAMES, girl, we need NAMES!
Suzy
Tammy, that garden is glorious - I wouldn't change a thing!!! Great contrast of colors.
I agree Tammy! That bed has the wonderful overstuffed looked cottage gardens need. The more photos I look at of cottage gardens, the more I think I need to get braver about really crowding lots more stuff in. The yellows and blues are great together.
susan
Lincolnitess, Yours look really, really good, too. Of all people, I'm not sure you should be changing too much about your garden! :)
Suzy
I love whimsey in the garden - I suspect I have too much, but it's all going to stay! I think I have about 40 statues (lots of child statues, angels, fairies, frogs, and a few odds and ends - makes sense as I have an Angel Garden, Fairy Garden, Frog Garden, Childrens Garden - actually 2 of those because I had too many for 1).