Cottage Garden Diary

23 Feb '06 11:02 pm

Well, dearest ones, Dixie, Cot. Gar., it is so sweet having these picket gates in one's garden! I do have one, which I painted brigt blue last Autumn, just to give a little bit of colour during winter, where everything --almost-- is brown... I'll send you a photo later on, where everything around this lovely gate becomes colourfully bloomy!

And Melvourne!! Dixie, they used to say when I was little, that half of the Greek population moved there!! Sydney , also, has many Greeks, and a lady owner of a Greek tavern there is a repeatedly award winner , because of the global quality of her tavern's service . But I have to say, as well, that here in Brussels certain Greek restaurants serve "Greek" dishes which neither look, nor taste so Greek...Well,nothing and none is perfect...

And yes, some of these vegetable recipes you refer to are really tasty, especially with virgin olive oil! But , you know what? Travelling around a little bit with my husband, I discovered that certain of the countries around the Mediterranean Sea --- Italy, Spain, S. France-- cook the same vegetables in exactly the same way!! Because our dearest Earth produces the same treasures around here, and the similar climate conditions have a similar inspirational effect on the....Mediterranean chefs! And the funniest thing is, that each country considers these delicacies purely, Greek, purely Italian, purely Spanish, etc... Ah! The humans...

26 Feb '06 2:16 pm

I like to use antique pieces in the garden.

I also have half of an old Dutch barn door that I use to hide the air conditioning unit. It has the original old red paint so it adds color and texture.

The photo below is from last year. I used alot of annuals in the bed because I just didn't have time for all of my projects and hadn't made up my mind what perennials would go in this bed with the daylilies. Last fall I took out all the annuals and transplanted some mature Purple Coneflowers, and yarrow. I still have some work to do, but I think it will look good with the cones and daylilies.

I can't wait for spring so I can see how it all looks. I think the contrast of the cones against the river rock will be especially nice. We used river rock as mulch in this bed for a very specific reason: stray cats. We have dozens of stray cats and they have a bad habbit of using the flower beds for litter pans. With 2 large beds right off the deck, and the back door I didn't want to smell cat poo! So instead of traditional mulch we put down landscape fabric (so the rock doesn't sink into the soil) and filled the beds (and all the way under the deck) with river rock.

I wouldn't suggest rock for everyone. It has its disadvantages, the main one being that its a pain to have to move it to plant things. It also doesn't add organic matter to the soil, so fertilizing is a must. And you have to be careful what kinds of plants you put in rock because it reflects the heat. You need things that are really sun tolerant or they suffer. Oh, and snakes love to sun themselves on a nice warm rock. Now, we don't have poison snakes... mostly what we call garter snakes which don't get too large, top size is only about 30". And they eat alot of critters like spiders. So, the snakes really don't bother me. They won't bite you unless you catch one and are teasing it. Mostly they just go hide when I'm in the garden.

Except Henry. Henry lives under the rocks that make up my waterfall. He's pretty bold. He'll just lay there and watch me work like we're old buddies. I can get within 2 feet of him and he just watches. As long as I go about my business and don't reach in his direction, he'll just lay there. Its like he knows that its my garden and he only has such a nice place to live because I tend the flowers and keep the pond clean for him. Now my partner, Kevin isn't nearly so fond of old Henry. He's deathly afraid of snakes and jumps around like a little girl everytime he sees a snake! LOL. Its really very funny!

The vine growing up the deck rail is Morning Glory, which is an annual here. I didn't realize how big they would get and planted 2 on a bamboo support.... they got HUGE! By the end of the season the darn things had taken over the deck. I was trimming yards and yards off nearly everyday. When I took them down last fall the base of the plants looked like trunks. I love the way it looked, but have decided that one is plenty! LOL. I'll probably put one on each side of the deck and see how that turns out. They're only annuals, so if I don't like it, I just won't plant them that way again. Oh the beauty of annuals.

On a different subject entirely, I've been quite under the weather. I'd not been feeling well for the last few weeks so Kevin finally insisted that I see the doctor on Friday. As it turns out I've contracted whooping cough. It seems that we Americans hadn't been vacinated for it since the late 60's because we had virtually done away with it in our country. But with so many immagrants coming in, its back. And there seems to be quite the epidemic here in the Mid-west. The doctor said that nearly 35% of his patients had contracted the virus this year and that it was becoming more and more common all over the country so we're back to vacinating against it.

Now, don't get the idea that I share the opinion of so many other people and think that we should lock our boarders because I don't. The largest imigrants to our country are from South America. And, if you have ever traveled to South America, as I have, there would be little doubt in your mind why these people want to come to the States. So, there are some growing pains to go through, and some adjusting and getting used to different customs. But by and large I have found our new citizens to be generous, hard working people who are very family oriented. They are no differrent than my ancestors, who were also imigrants. The only real difference is that my family imigrated here a long, long time ago from the Netherlands. Anyone ever heard of the House of Orange? Yep. Thats us. but that's another story altogether... so it can wait for another day. Right now I think I should lay down for a while.

27 Feb '06 3:30 pm

It's official! Spring has arrived in my little cornier of the world!!! Very Happy

I was on my way out to the grocery this afternoon when I decided to take a walk around the yard and check a few plants. I am thrilled to report that my Alliums, Daffies and Iris are all up and out of the ground!!! AND my Autum Joy Sedum are peeking there heads through as well! I coulnd't be happier!!!

Now its time to get outside and start cleaning up the beds. Its supposed to be in the mid 40's this week, and even into the 50's for a day or two. I should have at least a little time after work to start the cleanup.

Its extremely cold here in the winter, but we're never sure how much snow we will get. so to insulate my plants I spread a thick layer of leaves over all the beds in the fall and I don't cut back my plants until Spring. That way the old growth keeps the layer of leaves in place to help protect everything. Then come spring I clean everything up good and put most of the leaves in the compost bin. I burn some so I have the ashes for the compost.

Oh dear, and I haven't even started making out my list of spring chores... better get to it! Very Happy

28 Feb '06 3:22 pm

Okay... I know they don't look like much now. but give these babies a few weeks and see just how far they've come!

As part ofmy diary I want a visual record of my plants as they grow and mature. I know these photos are kind of silly to post, but it will demonstrate just how much these beauties grow in a season. And, you'll have to forgive how messy the beds are right now. I need to leave the leaves to protect the plants from cold.

28 Feb '06 3:55 pm

Congrats on the first sign of Spring, I noticed some Daylillies startin to pop... It's only a matter of time now... Cool

28 Feb '06 7:42 pm

We shall all anticipate glorious 'after' photos !
Dixie.

1 Mar '06 1:09 am

I'm as bad as a little kid at Christmas this time of year! Very Happy

I love seeing all the plants and trees come back to life.

I'm hoping to get outside and do a few chores after work today. It should be warm enough, its just a question of if I have the energy.

3 Mar '06 2:34 pm

Okay, I've decided on the foundation plantings for the front of the house. Or, more accurately, it has been decided for me, in a round about sort of way.

I received a catalog from Sring Hill Nursery in the mail today. On the front cover was a coupon for one-half off any order up to $1,000. That is, order as much as you like up to $1,000 and pay only half.

Obviously the 50% savings got my attention so I flipped open the front cover to peruse the catalog.... and right inside the front cover was the PERFECT flower bed for the front of my house! Perfect right down to the colors I had settled on: white, blue and pink. And at half price, I can afford to do exactly the same layout on both sides of the front door. Here's a link: http://springhillnursery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_30494

Now, I will have a few leftovers... like the Royal Star Magnolia. Those will just be too large for that spot... and my beds aren't quite 6'deep....yet Wink

AND I will be leaving my butterfly bushes at each corner.... so that will leave me with 2 Magnolias and 2 Nikko Blue Hydrangeas. The Magnolias I will be giving to my sister for her very large yard.... and the extra Hydrangeas will go into other parts of my garden.

So everyone.... what do you think?

3 Mar '06 6:22 pm

Absolutely Scrumptious ! I had a look at the garden plan and am in love with it. I have campanula as a border in a lot of my garden, and it is so sweet with its starry little flowers. -
This scheme will suit your house beautifully,and will make it look thoroughly loved!
Dixie.

3 Mar '06 6:35 pm

I have just found a picture of my campanulas,with double pink begonias and carex grass
Dixie.

Cottage Garden Diary

Love chatting with you two..

Spring has Sprung!!!!

Baby pics...

The baby sedums et al

Foundation Plantings

scrumptious!

campanulas