This was one of my projects back in 1999. This was my first house after my divorce many moons ago. This is my only "before" photo...and the next photo was my after picture. The plants were just starting to get established...so most of the stuff was in pots for a few years.
This message was edited Feb 19, 2009 8:24 PM
This was after 3 years. I was doing the inside at the same time... so... it took me a few years to get it to where I was happy. In the summer the front steps were always lined with pots full of flowers. I didn't have a lot of money so I had to divide the plants from the right side to fill in the new border on the left side. I loved this little house and have never stopped missing it.
This message was edited Feb 19, 2009 8:26 PM
Highmtn, What a beautiful home and yard and what a transformation, I can see why you miss it. I love the potted plants around the Cedars, and agree that it adds a cottage feel. Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures.
Shirley
I can see why you would miss it. The planters look like a magazine article. Speaking of magazines, I am on the newsletter list for Better Homes and Gardens. They have some of the most fantastic cottage gardens I have ever seen. You might take a look.
Christi
Shirley..
You're welcome. I still get sort of a twinged in my heart when I see that little place. I just hated to sell it, but I moved to another state for employment. The backyard was just as fun, and it was truly a little doll house. The place was old...like 65-70 years old, but it was solid.
Highmtn: I love your little cottage garden idea under the cedars! How very clever. May have to borrow that idea somewhere around here.
Your little house showed the love you put into it and I understand why you miss it. There was so much of you in it. I'm betting there's another house out there with your name on it!
Thanks everyone...I still have to let out a little "sigh" when I look at the photos. The inside was sooooooooo cozy too. I got bold and painted it with VERY intense COLORS inside...lol The living room was terracotta with cream window sills. Kitchen and den...forest green....LOL I just had a blast...as I said...it was my therapy home. I have watched for another project like that but I had to buy a place when I moved and I took what was available (and what I could afford). I only paid $52K for that little place back in 1998. It had very GOOD BONES but a lot of people were afraid of it's "knob and tube" wiring (which was pretty standard in OLD OLD houses). It's changed hands twice since I sold it. I keep track of it through an old neighbor.
I'll go ck out the BH&G garden site (thanks). I do get that e-newsletter, but haven't ck'd it out much. That rose in the one photo (peeking up behind the Shasta's) was IN the same pot! Poor little fellow...he was choked out. A small warning ... Daisies have UNIMAGINABLE root systems! Pushy is an UNDERSTATEMENT! So... if you pot them up you do have to divide them about every 2nd - 3rd year or heaven help their pot mates...lol I will say Shasta's and CA poppies are the ONLY plants I've found that can battle with and survive the loofah like fine root masses the Cedars send out.
PS~
I have to apologize... I hopped in way down the thread and had not looked UP at allll the other photos of cottage garden interpretations! LOVED THEM ALL! Very nice images!
To me...a cottage garden is one of a "free spirit"...the plants as well as the gardeners are usually fearless. They ignore placement "rules" and are forgiving of the plants that are tenacious and sprout up in surprise places. I always chuckle at my Johnny Jump-Ups...and CA poppies when I find them growing in concrete cracks with no soil or water. They just DO IT and yell..."Yeah......top this!!!". Actually... I have lavender babies pop up in the cracks of my sidewalk...so that reallllllllllly says something about their germination needs.
Anyhow... we hope to get a grape stake fence built here this spring so that I can get the final steps of the yard put in. It's not to keep the deer out (that would have to be a fence at least 8' high). It's just to give me some separation from the drive way & front parking as a backdrop for some plants. Not only do I fight the Cedar trees, but I live 8 miles out of town and the deer have been a real challenge too. I do admire their beauty BUT NOT WHEN THEY CHEW DOWN MY ROSES...and other blooming plants. I've learned in a drought year deer will and DO eat ANYTHING. There is no such thing as a "deer proof" plant...lol I do use "Liquid Fence" on some of the plants (day lilies, all window boxes, ..and even the Rhoddy's when they are in bloom) and that works. I'm a live and let live kind of person but when something starts to chew down my efforts...."THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!!!"...lol Liquid Fence smells GHASTLY...and even I gag when it's first put on. At least it does mellow when dry and it has not failed me yet!
Hope to see more photos soon.
This message was edited Feb 22, 2009 6:38 AM
I haven't had time to check in much and have to say I love the idea of "making him think it is his idea" I have to admit to using the same thing myself. LOL! Now I will call it finesse. And yes, I am drawn to cottagey gardens for their easy spirit style, everything goes etc. Easier than tending a boring hedge and lawn that show the slightest neglect.
No joke... I found this in my email a few minutes ago.
It must have been an omen that I was to share it with all of you (there are two threads discussing this right now so I've posted it in both places). This is their list of "Cottage Garden" plants. If you go to the BH & Garden link find this cottage garden thread it also had lots of info on the particular plant care etc. Very good information and SOOO WELL TIMED!
*Bellflower
This tough perennial produces spikes of white or blue blooms in early and midsummer. Like most cottage garden plants, the flowers are great for cutting.
Name: Campanula percisifolia
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Columbine
Easy to grow and beautiful, columbine blooms in spring and early summer. The colorful blooms are loved by hummingbirds and gardeners alike.
Name: Aquilegia varieties
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Coralbells
In spring and early summer, coralbells produce sprays of pink, red, or white flowers. These flowers are a top choice of hummingbirds.
Name: Heuchera varieties
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Daisy
Daisies offer a simplistic beauty that works well in any cottage garden. Their bright white blooms with sunny yellow centers are perfect for beds and borders, as well as vases.
Name: Leucanthemum varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Dame's Rocket
A beautiful, old-fashioned annual, dame's rocket produces phlox-like clusters of lavender or white flowers in late spring. The flowers are delightfully fragrant.
Name: Hesperis matronalis
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 4-9, depending on variety
Delphinium
Producing stately spires in shades of purple, blue, pink, and white, delphiniums are about as regal as garden flowers come. Unfortunately, taller types need staking to protect them from wind but they're well worth this bit of extra work.
Name: Delphinium varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: 1-6 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-7, depending on variety
Dianthus
Filling cottage gardens with their sweet scents, dianthus varieties also offer pretty blooms in shades of pink, red, and white.
Name: Dianthus varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 3-10, depending on variety
Foxglove
This woodland biennial reliably produces beautiful upright spikes of bell-shape flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. Note: While most common foxgloves are biennial, they often self seed and appear each year in the garden.
Name: Digitalis varieties
Growing conditions: Partial sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: 2-6 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Hollyhock
Among the tallest of perennials, hollyhocks bear flower spikes up to 8 feet tall. They bloom in a wide range of shades -- from nearly black to red, purple, yellow, and white.
Name: Alcea rosea
Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: 4-8 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-9
Hydrangea
A shrub of incomparable beauty, hydrangeas produce large clusters of pink, blue, or white flowers in early summer. They're great for cutting, if you can bear to take them out of your garden.
Name: Hydrangea macrophylla
Growing conditions: Partial sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: To 6 feet tall
Zones: 6-9
Iris
Iris offer stunning blooms (many are wonderfully fragrant) that come in a rainbow of colors and sizes. Our favorites are the Siberian types with their grassy leaves and graceful flowers.
Name: Iris varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Lavender
A beautifully ornamental herb, lavender bears fragrant foliage and flowers. The blooms typically appear in shades of violet and white and are wonderful for drying and using in sachets and other craft projects.
Name: Lavandula varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 5-8, depending on variety
Lady's Mantle
This great perennial offers sprays of chartreuse blooms perfect for cutting. The foliage is wonderful, too, especially when it catches early morning dewdrops.
Name: Alchemilla mollis
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 4-7
Peony
With their petal-packed blooms, peonies are some of the most romantic plants. They not only look great, but they bear a wonderful fragrance. And they're virtually pest free and quite drought tolerant.
Name: Paeonia varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 5 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Perennial Geranium
There are a wealth of geraniums perfect for cottage gardens. 'Johnson's Blue' is among the most common; it offers beautiful blue-purple flowers in early summer.
Name: Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 4-8
Phlox
One of the most brilliant plants of the late-summer garden, phlox produces stunning clusters of white, pink, lavender, and red blooms that bear a delightful fragrance.
Name: Phlox paniculata
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 4 feet, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8
Sweet William
Another biennial that typically self-seeds, sweet William produces beautiful clusters of fragrant blooms in early summer. They're great for cutting, and they attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Name: Dianthus barbatus
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Violet
With their edible and fragrant blooms, violets are among the most charming flowers for the cottage garden. These cool-weather lovers start in spring and often bloom again in fall.
Name: Viola varieties
Growing conditions: Partial to full shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 1 foot tall
Zones: 4-8, depending on variety
Enjoy!!
This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 2:02 PM
This might take you to the right page. Sometimes these links hijack you back to page one and make you look it up from your computer.
Read the various links around this page. You can see that many are associated with growing "cottage gardens".
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/styles/
This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 2:07 PM
Glad you found the BHG website. I get the newsletter once a week and it is always inspiring. Going down your list above I have all but 4 of the cottage plants. Almost all planted from seed and they continue to reseed themselves. Or the Iris that multiplies and multiplies.
