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Cottage Gardens – A Renewed Look

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Cottage gardens have been considered a classis. This book takes a renewed look at creating a modern twist.

Cottage gardens are simply beautiful. I am not sure if it is the uniquely compatible way of planting everything you love, or the creative chaos. There is a method behind this creative way of gardening. The Modern Cottage Garden by Greg Loades takes the reader on quite the journey.

First of all, the author is in my head. I am THAT gardener who cannot resist the plant in the nursery. I do not always know where it will be planted in my garden, but certain it belongs with me. When an author speaks to you, it is easy to begin falling in love with how one interprets the garden.

COTTAGE VISITS

Two special gardens in the United Kingdom begin this book’s journey. Greg explains the ideology behind the making of these beautiful sites. The gardens at Newby Hall and Scampston Walled Garden are beautifully photographed. Capturing not just the pictures, but explaining their classic styles was of interest. I ventured outside and realized…I can plant more. What is a Cottage garden without a plan?

COTTAGE HOW TO’S

Greg had my heart when he shared the diversity found in a private garden in Cambridgeshire. I quickly realized I need to attend the National Garden Scheme. This will be on the to-do list of garden travels …but I digress. Suggestions on planting the modern cottage garden like being curious, spontaneity matters, and more, are a gentle way of creating a plan. Yes, those flower-filled borders in almost continual bloom do need to have a starting point. With thoughts of garden accessories like pots or a backdrop of some type, help set the tone.

Sharing plant combinations for a multitude of spaces, lawn reconsideration, and more are helpful to the reader. The container chapters were quite the game-changer for me. Pots and containers truly make quite the cottage garden with the proper recipe.

SEASON-BY-SEASON

In every season, a modern cottage garden can delight its owner. It all comes down to what you plant and how it is maintained. The author covers this and more. Timber Press knew this was a book worth having in any cottage gardener’s dreams. The photographs of how the garden evolves in each season are amazing. Each season includes a to-do list as well as maintenance tips. As most gardeners know, the care of our plants equals the joy they bring to our gardens.

PLANTS FOR DESSERT

There are plants and then there are essential plants. I truly love this style of gardening and this plant list has given me confidence. After perusing this list of fifty plants, I realized that I am in good shape. I only need a handful of plants from the list – and perhaps a few more pots.

If a creative, well-planned, chaotic, and diverse garden is in your dreams, I highly recommend this book. From the gardens which were shared to the creative plant combinations, this book is inspirational.

Off to the garden center, I could have sworn I saw a gap in my garden!

Teri, Cottage In The Court

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Dove On Sustainable Landscaping

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Essential Native Trees and Shrubs for the Eastern United States: The Guide to Creating a Sustainable Landscape [Book]
Tony Dove, Local Horticulturlist has written a guide that makes sustainable gardening educational and fun!
“Sustainable Landscaping with Tony Dove” should have been the title of a book I recently read. The Guide to Creating a Sustainable Landscape Essential Native Trees and Shrubs for the Eastern United States by Tony Dove and Ginger Woolridge is a necessity for the bookshelf. Interested in selecting and growing the right tree or shrub for the Eastern Unites States? This book is a terrific resource to have on hand. I cannot fathom renovating my landscape without utilizing the knowledge and experience found in this book.

THE AUTHORS 

Who is this Tony Dove? A local gentleman inspired to garden at the side of his grandfather. One could say it all started with a seed. The curiosity of how things grow encouraged Tony to further his education. 60 years of growing in the Eastern United States has allowed Tony to create a rewarding career. With his experiences at London Town and Gardens, Tryon Palace, North Carolina and the Clark Botanical Garden in New York, Mr. Dove is currently the Chief Horticulturist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. He is also a member of The Association of Garden Communicators.

This book would not be complete without the expertise of Ginger Woolridge. With a solid background of many years in the industry, focusing on landscape design and editorial consulting, Ginger’s touch was added to every chapter.

This team of caring, sustainable landscaping inspired individuals created an easy to read and digest toolkit in book form. Focusing on trees and shrubs commonly and not so commonly found in natural settings.

A FEW DETAILS 

Written in a way that most people can understand, the book also has user-friendly sections. The art of understanding site and growing conditions of native trees and shrubs is the first Chapter. This book is written to encourage success in the landscape.

Do you understand the importance of Primary trees and shrubs? Do you know what they are or what their attributes are? If you had this book, I almost guarantee your forest bathing experience would have a different meaning.

THE HELP 

Recently a client shared with me that his Aesculus parviflora (Bottlebrush Buckeye) had yellowing leaves. I was able to share a bit of “Doveness” as I turned to pages 165 – 167.  Information like the attributes in the landscape, seasons of interest, form, color, USDA growing zone, texture, and culture was all there. Pictures of bloom, cultivated varieties and information on companion planting are available to the reader. This helps the reader to identify the tree or shrub.

The team of Tony Dove and Ginger Woolridge make creating a sustainable landscape a delightfully educational experience. This kind of expertise in book form is certainly a gift. When it is curated by a local horticulturist, it is even better.

 

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Book Review – The Budget-Wise Gardener

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The Budget-Wise Gardener by Kerry Ann Mendez is like having a best friend on the bookshelf!

“The Budget-Wise Gardener” With Hundreds Of Money Saving Buying & Design Tips for Planting the Best for Less by Kerry Ann Mendez is a mouthful – but worth having on your bookshelf.

Kerry Ann Mendez, I am asking, ‘Can we just be best friends?’ This book actually spells out how to have a beautiful garden on a budget. We can all use constructive tips to save money no matter if you are a professional or a homeowner with a big dream. When the official gardening season starts our ideas never seem to match up with our “in real life” budgets. The Budget-Wise Gardener teaches the reader how to have that dream garden without breaking the bank.

Starting in Chapter 1 – How to Score Great Plants For Less…or for Free, who would NOT want to find out how to do this???  The planting season can prove to be a costly proposition to some. Often we spring for the high dollar plant and try to patiently wait for a sale. Kerry Ann instructs the reader in the art of saving money and then breaks it down by plant class –  perennials, annuals, biennials, grasses, bulbs, trees and even shrubs. I am not going to give any of these tips away because, the money you will save is enough to buy this book. Kerry Ann’s tips are tested and proven, so there is a form a science in the at of Budget-Wise gardening.

Other chapters include “Plant Sources and Treasure Maps”, “Regal Containers on A Dollar Store Budget” and my favorite, “Design Secrets that Save Money and Time”. Why is this my favorite chapter??  I am busy working full-time, writing part-time and gardening part-time. I want my gardens to be self sustainable. The need for beautiful gardens all the time or as much as possible is real. I am a firm believer in Xeric landscaping and meadows. Kerry Ann discusses Xeric Gardens and The Right Size Meadow in the design chapter. For those that do not know, Xeric is a Greek word that means “dry”. Choosing the correct plants and considering natives can be the answer to seasonal beauty. Most native plants have the ability to withstand drought and less than perfect soil. The author also shares the secrets to the everlasting beauty in the gravel gardens at Chanticleer (mentioning Chanticleer is the quickest way to my heart!) Two categories of plants make this garden a perennial success – ‘re-seeders’ and ‘plants that stay in place’. Who knew that this was one of the secrets to a budget-wise garden?

The Right Size Meadow garden  – how can the average homeowner achieve a meadow like effect that is voluptuous in bloom??  Following the tried and true tips on page 128, you will be the talk of the neighborhood. Your neighbors will want to know what kind of budget it will take for them to create their dream garden. With a sustainable garden on a budget you can sit back and smile or take a walk to say ‘Hi Neighbor’ while they are weeding away.

Kerry Ann, seriously, ‘Can we just be friends?’  Suggesting creative planters and options for plant combinations to show off your budget-wise savvy is so smart. Offering criteria for planter success and end of season storage is the perfect way to end this book.

If you are looking for an easy to read, information over loaded book that will make you the envy of your neighborhood – this is the book for you!

St. Lynne’s Press you have done it again by publishing such an awesome book for gardeners of all levels.

 

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Wakanda Lives Within Us

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One of the places in Virginia that I consider my Wakanda

Wakanda is a mystical, fictional, un-colonized small nation in equatorial Africa. Depicted as a third world country, this beautiful place was surrounded by Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Although technologically advanced, there is a message in this movie. This place of beauty has weighed heavily on mind since seeing The Black Panther.

If you have seen the Black Panther movie, the clouds open up to a village. This colorful village brings utopian beauty to the big screen. What would our natural green spaces look like if left untouched? In most countries, people use the weekend to escape the City. Heading to the beaches or mountains we long for a place of peace. Whether it is the sound of water dancing or trickling from a hidden spring, the reason for escaping is real. The sound of the wind causing the leaves to rustle and create a subtle song, brings peace to those who listen. When you think about it, escaping the woods or water is a modern-day escape to Wakanda.

Why is Wakanda fictional?  Is it so hard to imagine a self sustainable existence? This fictional place called Wakanda actually could exist in each of us. We have the ability to recreate a personal version of Wakanda.  Here at a few ideas that I thought of to create Wakanda in your life:

  1. Grow Your Own Green space. Whether you create a garden for lush, visual beauty or for your health by growing an edible’s, growing your own is beneficial. Growing and eating seasonally, as well as supplementing from the market when necessary, means you have a hand in your overall well-being.
  2. Embrace the great outdoors. This fictional place had a thriving technological existence. If you paid attention, the scenes throughout pictured people at the marketplace talking and laughing with each other. I did not notice anyone on a cellphone or a tablet. The Wakandan’s were walking, talking and engaging with each other. Recognizing the benefits of technology, disengaging from it once in a while could enable us to create our own Wakanda.

This mystical, beautiful place was considered a third world farming community by other advanced communities.  Perhaps there are some third world countries that hold the secrets to a Wakandan existence.

Wakanda lives in each of us, however we must take the time to find it.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Pausing for Tea….

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Sometimes a day comes that requires you to pause and just have a cup of tea. Why tea??? The relaxing qualities, aroma, health benefits and warmth as it is sipped with a certain grace, gliding down the throat…oh what a great feeling from within!! The warmth radiates throughout the body and all is right with the intimate world around you. My what a journey…at least in my mind.

Last Saturday I needed to escape fro it all, pause for a bit and decided to enjoy a cup of tea or two. I wasn’t really hungry, so no nibbles were required. I simply wanted to enjoy a hot cup of tea that perhaps had some positive benefits for my body and perhaps an uplifting fragrance for my spirit. I put the kettle on, grabbed a few new magazines and chose a long unused teapot and matching cup. I chose The Republic of Tea “Hibiscus Superflower Tea, a blend of Coconut bits, Nigerian Hibiscus flower, Rose Hips, and Stevia – as its proprietary blend. I gently steeped it for 5 minutes and eased into the moment….which turned into an entire day of oohing and ahhing over gardens in England and sipping a wonderful cup of tea.

Although I did not grow the tea for this day, it made me think of what herbs can be grown in the garden for tea. As we approach this year’s gardening season consider growing some herbs for a good cup of tea with benefits. A few of my flowering favorites are chamomile, bergamot, and borage. Borage has such a lovely blue flower and is considered to be an uplifting herb. A gorgeous star flower that adds sheer joy to a salad or in a cup of iced tea or lemonade. I like to see the blossom’s floating in a sea of pale yellow with a leaf of mint….just beautiful!!! A beneficial of having Borage in the garden other than for tea….it is a terrific bee attractant. It is like a bee alarm that goes off in the garden!!

There is also Bergamot. A wonderful bloom that resembles fireworks, however, it can be aggressive in the garden,  but easily maintained when tugged in time – keep an eye on this one!!! Using the leaves that emit a wonderfully sweet orange blossom fragrance, this herb is a native plant that has been used for many, many years. The oils found in the leaves offer a huge level of antioxidants. A calming tea best enjoyed ….whenever!!

Rose hips are another common item found in the garden. Those wonderful orange remnants of bloom found on the rose-bush offer flavonoids, lycopene, Vitamin C and VitaminA. Drinks can be made by crushing the rose hips and steeping them in hot water. All this beneficial goodness, found in the garden. Imagine that! Some other herbs to consider are most of the Mint family, Chamomile, Lemon Balm (delicious hot or cold) and Anise Hyssop.  Now before you go making all sorts of combinations as a cure-all, check with your doctor. Some herbs interact with medications or allergies.

ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR OR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL PRIOR TO INGESTING!!!

Steal a quiet Saturday for yourself, make time to pause to enjoy a cup or a pot of a delicious tea from the garden. You will be surprised at the joy that it will bring if you dry the leaves and store them to be enjoyed offseason.

Peace from the Cottage,

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