Special Elements - Tool Display

Leave an area for gardening tools where everyone can see them.

Cottage residents didn't have garages.  Their rake and hoe were grouped neatly in a corner of the garden. 

Now, I'm not suggesting you park your rototiller and mulching mower in the midst of your garden glory.  Obviously the modern tools we've all come to rely on need protection.  But how simple to create a setting with an old painted table (sealed with matte polyurethane, if you must)!  Stack your oldest, crustiest, clay pots on top, and group a few old traditional tools at the side.  We've all inherited a rusty rake or hoe; even older garden tools sell for a song at auctions. 

My favorite hand tools are all 30 or more years old, and I don't even own a plastic watering can.  The old tin cans do leak, but isn't that the point?

Lavender

Lavender

In harsh Wisconsin winters, lavender needs a bit of protection.  It won't become the 3 foot tall shrub it can be in milder climates, but it's worth growing just the same.  Its soap-and-water-scented leaves and flowers were traditionally used to freshen linens. 

Half-hardy perennial.

Parsley

Parsley

When sowing the seeds for this annual, water them initially with boiling water!  It sounds a little crazy, but is will greatly hasten germination.  The tasty leaves are also a favorite of yellow swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.

Balloon Flower (Platycodon)

Balloon Flower
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

This is another true blue flower; fully hardy.  It's late to emerge in the spring, so be careful not to dig it up!  It flowers in late summer.

Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea)

Bachelor Buttons
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

Known as cornflowers in English, this true blue flower was grown as early at 1629!  A common seed in medieval times, it had several medicinal uses.  For your garden, select the tallest variety you can find.

Babies Breath (Gypsophilia)

Babies Breath
by Phyliss Williams

This is not a traditional choice, but it *is* a wonderful addition.  The large double varieties perennial will grow almost 3 feet tall and wide!  Valuable if you want to include everlastings to your garden.

Special Elements for the Cottage Garden - Part 1

Authentic Materials

Cottage gardens are as much about atmosphere as they are about the flowers and plants.  You may choose to plant the "correct" flowers, but without thoughtful placement, something will be lacking: a mood, a feeling... the "atmosphere".

So.  How do you create this special world?

#1 - Use Authentic Materials

Concrete was unknown in the periods when cottage garden thrived.  Minimize any existing concrete in your garden by covering it with pots of flowing foliage.

Brick or flagstone pathways, or even crushed stone or bark chips, will blend with your flower beds.  Be sure to plant low herbs or small flowering plants right at the edge where they will spill onto the pathway.

Avoid any polyvinyl edging or plastic flowerpots.  Use only terra cotta or clay pots; wicker baskets are also terrific accents.

Use twiggy branches for staking taller plants, not wire hoops.  Create a trellis effect with harvested wild grape vine branches:  they'll last for years and provide a very natural background for sweet peas, morning glories, or other annual vines.

Mulching materials, where necessary, should be shredded bark or long-fibered peat moss.  White marble chips or other modern processed stone will destroy your ambiance.

Oregano

Oregano
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

The "Italian" herb, growing about 16" tall.
The flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Hardy perennial.

***

Next week, I'll have a post about the atmosphere of your cottage garden which is as important, if not more so, than the plants and flowers you put in it.  :-)

Chives

Chives
by Phyliss Williams of K&W Greenery

Another hardy favorite; this perennial herb has the largest, showiest flowers.  The grassy texture adds real interest to the garden, and the leaves add wonderful green onion flavor in dishes.

Sage

Sage
by Phyliss Williams of K&W Greenery

A fully hardy perennial herb, growing about 24 inches tall and very full.  The gray leaves have long been important in cooking, and the rounded form makes a pleasing mass.  Try one of the variegated or purple leafed varieties, too!