Lets strat the day off right, with a pretty photo..........
So what makes a Cottage Garden, well, "Cottagey"?
great way to start any day
Good idea!
About all I have to look at this time of the year is ornamental grasses. Do they fit in a cottage garden?
Nice to know that in just a few months the early bloomers will be here again.
I like that pink grass, what's its name?
I like that pink grass, too - and I don't have much to look at around here right now either . . . just clumps of snow which are no longer pretty!!! That picture of the rose (Cherry Parfait) was actually taken in 2005 - it didn't do as well in 2006).
This pic is Big Smile Daylily and I was able to divide one into many, many plants last year. I have two more to divide this year - wish I had done it before it winter settled in!
That is Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus'. It is really more beige than pink this time of the year, but still pretty. It will stay nice until the first heavy wet snow breaks it. Here it is in the summer at the far right top of this photo. Just a nice background plant and the way I hide my compost pile. I have 3 clumps of it. The short grass in the foreground is Hamlyn. I like it too.
very nice
Yes, i have one or two miscanthus and stipa..........................
Have you seen pheasnt tail grass??????????????????????? gorgeous this time of the year.............
Just to balance the perception out there. I live not to far from Jude in North Central Phoenix. In 10 years time I've had a dozen snakes, several types of scorpions, 2 Black Widows, packs of coyotes, hundreds of bunnies, several Great Horned Owls, scores of feral (?) Love Birds, a Military Macaw and scores of hummingbirds in my yard. Gardening in AZ is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get.
That brought a HUGE smile to my face, Aguane!
I dunno Aguane, I know plenty of folks who get all kinds of nasties in their yards and worse, inside their homes. What makes this area so free of them> I dunno, but talking with others nearby, nobody has snakes, widows or scorpions. I see hawks in the FH area but never here and mostly it's those huge black birds and a few hummers, I didn't even see bees here all summer except for those darned black wood bees. But then only a very few of those too.
Strange how this works, there's no predicting where they'll go.
Yeah, that decides it, I'm staying here. There aren't any poisonous snakes in N.E. Ohio, although my husband did see his first coyote last week. I live in dairy country so the deer are too busy eating in the fields to come in town and bother my garden.
Look closely and you can see three hawks. The nest was in my back yard and they're playing in my little pond. By this time it's hard to tell the two babies from the parent.
Isn't it grand the wildlife our gardens attract?
great pic mao...
you're lucky to have wildlife so close.
I was thinking about taking the pond out because it was attracting too many yellow jackets but when the hawks moved in I decided the pond was staying
I'm with you in that decision. Do they bother you at all while trying to be in the garden or near the pnd?
Incredible photo - as well as marvelous experience!!
At first they scolded me pretty hard but after the chicks grew up some I could get quite close. Thankfully they weren't at all aggressive like a blue jay would have been. These are pretty small hawks but I'd still hate for something that large to dive at me.
No kidding!!!!!!
I've watched the crows get upset with the hawks, though, and it's amazing to see them chase after one - crows are a pain, but you sure have to admire how they stick together and protect their families and each other! I saw them chasing a huge eagle recently, too - now that was impressive!!!
crows are interesting too. when I was about 8, one became water logged at my grandfather's house in a horrific storm. Pop clipped his wings, built a cage and brought him to us. He lived in the cage under the large oak in the back yard. we fed him and he had just begun to learn to talk (childhood memory) and then a squirrel who lived in that tree took the pin out of the cage door and killed the crow early one morning. we buried the crow and I never had a bird after that. I'm also not fond of squirrels
I can certainly understand why, Jude!!! That must have broken your heart - funny how something like that can affect our lives forever.
Wow! That is really something about 2 people so close to each other with such different fauna. If I ever get out that way and have to relaocate, remind me which side of town Jude lives on. LOL! I sometimes pop into the bug identification forum and see the most awful bugs...all I can think of is, I'm glad I don't live THERE. (Usually Texas LOL)
Mao - Awesome that you have hawks in your pond! And babies (or in the case of those big birds, teenagers LOL!) make it ever more special!!! It's as if they're using it as a giant birdbath. I'm sure that must be rare.
Our hawks go from the tops of huge trees to the tops of other huge trees and we never really get to see them except with binoculars. Every so often I'll be working in the garden and a huge shadow startles me -- it's a hawk with a huge wingspan flying over me.
Suzy
Mark, that is my mental picture when cottage garden comes to mind- stunning!
maozamom, I love your sidewalk planting! Stutgart canna is lovely in that combo.
Murmur, what is that incredible rose? It's so perfect!
I would never of thought that a squirrel would attack a caged bird. I would imagine that was very tramatic to a child. I can understand Jude never wanting a bird.
Before the hawks nested in our tree my experience of them was the same as Illoquin. One of the most facinating sight was watching the young birds trying to take a rabbit. Time after time they would dive down and sometimes hit it other sime the rabbit would run away just enough that it was missed. With four hawks looking down at it from four different directions , and two of them trying to attack, the poor thing had nowhere to go. They never did get the rabbit that day.
Why thank you Gemini............................. kind of you to say so!!!
Is it unusual to have a green daylily?????????????????????
hey jude - that's terrible, I would be mad and sad too. A little girl that was visiting my neighbor's once snuck up on my Grandma's porch and stole my pet garter snake and killed it when I was at supper. People (and squirrels) are afraid of what they don't understand. I think I would be more forgiving of the squirrel, LOL.
Gemini, that rose is Cherry Parfait - and it's a prolific little bloomer!!
Mark, love the green daylily!!!!!
kinda strange isnt it...........................
It's past my bedtime and I'll soon be asleep but I thought I'd end the day with a pretty peony before I go.
Exquisite!!!! My daughter sent me four fragrant peonies for my birthday - I'm curious to see how they turn out. If they are half as beautiful as that one, I'll be happy.
How do pathways play into a cottage garden? I have a half large open back yard so they would need to be made of a natural material due to the cost? Any ideas?
I use wood mulch for my paths in the back garden and pea gravel in the front. I would like to have bricks or stonework, but the cost is just too much for me. You can see the mulch paths in the photo posted Dec 3, 2006 10:34 AM. Mulch does have the problem of needing to be replaced every few years or it just becomes a nice rice bed of compost for weeds to grow in. I use plastic landscape fabric under both the peagravel and mulch to prevent weeds. Any that do manage to grow are very easy to pull out.
Susan
So much catching up to do.
Beautiful photos! I loved the baby hawks. How neat. We watched a young hawk run in and out of the neighbor's clipped hedges by the house. I think he was after a small bird, but he never got anything.
Poor Jude, that was a sad story.
Murmer, that's a beautiful picture of Cherry parfait.
Lincoln, those are great coral bells!
I don't have too many dangerous buds, so I'll stay right here in iowa!
I think Phlox are romantic before they mildew! I hope I haven't already posted this picture here. I lose track.
bp, is that astrantia blooming next to your phlox?
No, I think it's Silene - Electra.
Susan, thanks for the reminder about using landscape fabric under pathways... I was just trying to figure out how to do mine... I'd prefer gravel to mulch in the back, but that's just too much gravel for me to think about shoveling in & out of the wheelbarrow (flagstones or bricks are just beyond my budget, LOL).
I was thinking that those larger wood chips, the ones that are like 2-3 inch nuggets, might take longer to break down... has anyone tried wood mulch for paths other than the standard double-shredded hardwood?
I'm not at the making-paths point YET, but I put down some pavers under my outdoor sink, and put cork under them. I find it works much better than landscape fabric, though the fabric is a boon. It will eventually degrade, but I like it.
BTW, I made a path at my sweetie's house with pavers embedded in pea gravel. Looks good, but if you step barefoot on a piece of gravel that's gotten on top of a paver, it HURTS! Walking barefoot on the gravel doesn't hurt as much. Just a little factor to consider. Also, think about pushing the wheelbarrow down the path.