a cottage garden.

Good morning from the garden!

I was watching a YouTube video the other day by Alexandra Campbell from The Middle-Sized Garden about cottage gardens. I’ve always said that my gardens are cottage style. They certainly aren’t formal, or modern, or tropical. I don’t have a Japanese garden or a Mediterranean garden. Surely I must have a cottage garden, right?

However, Alexandra listed a handful of characteristics that define a cottage garden, and now I’m starting to wonder if my garden qualifies.

One characteristic of a cottage garden that is mentioned in the video is a mix of flowers and vegetables.

Nope. Not a veggie in sight. And actually, there aren’t even a lot of flowers in sight in the shadier areas. I’m more about the colorful foliage.

I am starting to add a lot more flowering plants in the back where I have more sun now though.

Next up, having lots of self-seeders. Um, not really. I have very few. My beloved Verbena Bonariensis is a self-seeder.

And so is the Serendipity Allium.

But I tend to be a ruthless weeder in the spring and early summer, so I mostly destroy any seedlings that dare to come up.

She also mentioned that if you have more garden than lawn, you have a cottage garden.

Hmmm. I’m not quite there (my front yard is almost all lawn, or should I say mostly creeping charlie). I’m working on it though 😉

She listed some of the must-have plants in a cottage garden and the first one was roses. Clearly she hasn’t had to deal with Japanese beetles. I used to have a few more roses, but I’ve pulled all of them out now except for one. I just can’t deal with those pesky beetles!

But she also mentioned peonies, and I have those in spades.

Lastly, another characteristic of a cottage garden is that plants are absolutely crammed in.

OK, I definitely have that one covered! And P.S. both my alliums and my irises are looking amazing this year.

Another characteristic mentioned was having garden ornaments that don’t look brand new. My latest acquisition, a lovely concrete cherub that I purchased at my friend Lisa’s shed sale is perfect for a cottage garden.

And you know me, I have plenty of things in my garden that don’t look new, almost all of them coming from garage sales or hand-me-downs, like my rusty bench.

Ultimately, Alexandra says you don’t have to have all of the characteristics to qualify as having a cottage garden. So I definitely think I can continue to call my gardens cottage style.