A peek at the peak of the garden, as photographed in the early evening.
(Just because I love this tiny little winged insect.)
Sometimes I look at all of this and a little voice reminds me that ‘living in a cottage in the country and having a garden’ was a dream I held for most of my adult life. The cottage part of the dream was taken care of when moved here at the end of the summer in 2005. As for the garden, there were some sedum and hostas, but basically, this was a blank space.
I had to hold off on my garden dreams until the spring of 2006. It’s taken me ten summers of digging out hundreds of rocks, amending the soil, digging new beds, adding just a few plants each spring (always on a strict budget,) experimenting, shaping, and crossing my fingers to get here. Here to this abundant and verdant space tucked in alongside the cottage, with dense woods just a few steps away.
I pinch myself and feel such gratitude for a dream finally realized.
Not that I could afford it, but even if I could, hiring someone to design and plant these gardens was simply out of the question. Just as hiring an interior designer to decorate my home was out of the question. Good, bad or indifferent; these gardens have my stamp on them.
If you have the option when establishing your gardens, take your time. In this world of instant gratification, some things are worth waiting for.
Happy Tuesday.
Glimpses into Eden? Just lovely.
I think of it that way, Barbara. Although Eden probably wouldn’t have weeds!
Claudia, you and Don are fine examples of ‘bloom where you are planted.’
What a nice compliment, Carolyn Marie! Thank you.
Love that last photo….. what a beautiful and welcoming space. You have done a great job on your DIY not-instant garden. I’m with you, Claudia, take your time and enjoy the process.
It’s much more rewarding in the end, Jacki. Thank you.
Claudia, your garden looks beautiful. We have many of the same plants. I love the country garden look too. All the colors look great but my favorite is the phlox. My grandmother had gardens full of them so I have sweet memories of her. Her garden won a contest for the best looking. This year I added more in my garden thinking of her. Have a nice day. Doris
And phlox has such a delicious scent, Doris! (I like old-fashioned flowers and phlox is one of them.)
Love your garden photos! After such a hard winter I think i am enjoying my gardens and potted flowers even more this summer.
Me too. I guess all that wintry weather has given us a new appreciation of our gardens!
“A garden is a thing of beauty and a job forever” – the old saying goes.
You have proven that here Claudia, everything looks fabulous this season and all that hard work has paid off.
Splendid!
Hugs – Mary
But, the old saying is right – it’s a job forever! But less of a job for me than it used to be, that’s the payoff!
Sometimes dreams really do come true. You have created my favorite type of garden, relaxed and so colorful. You have done a magnificent job.
Aw, thank you, Deb. I like relaxed and densely planted gardens and this one is finally doing all of that.
All the blooms are beautiful Claudia, your beds look nice and full this year :) I wish the deer would quit eating mine so I could have some flowers.
Crossing my fingers here, the deer were a problem earlier this season, but seem to have backed off now.
Lovely peek at the peak! Taking your time and enjoying the journey of establishing a garden is a wonderful thing. And what a sense of accomplishment as well. Your home and property just look so beautiful and inviting. Love your little bug as well…we’ve been having a rhino beetle — that’s not the proper name, but a beetle with horns — coming to our water feature at night – very interesting to watch. Enjoy your day and try to stay cool – I think you are in the hot/humid wave that we are experiencing here in PA.
I don’t know whether I’ve ever seen a rhino beetle, Vera! I’ll have to look that up.
It’s incredibly humid here. I weed whacked this morning and went to the grocery store, but now I’m inside for the rest of the day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastinae
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia site…they are related to the Scarab Beetles — some of them are really pretty. Our’s is just a dark brown/black. He’s been around long enough we may need to name him – lol
Thank you Vera!
The ‘peek at the peak’ of your garden is spectacular! I love that it took time and effort and your love is everywhere you look. Dreams can come true with some luck and hard work!
hugs,
Linda
Yes, indeed! A lot of hard work, but it was so worth it.
What a lovely posting! Your garden is outstanding! But then, so is your home. We need a book. “A Year in the Life of Mockingbird Hill Cottage”. I would like to see all the seasons in one place. To look at and read during rain, snow, falling leaves and sun.
That’s a neat idea….hmmmm.
Claudia,
….just a little piece of Heaven!!!
Thank you so much, Roneta!
I adore your cottage and your garden. I have had the same dream for my entire life…unfortunately my sweet husband likes living in the city in a subdivision with a well manicured lawn. I have some flowers in pots and a rose bush and lavender plant but that’s it. Well, since he spoils me in every other way, if this lawn makes him happy, so be it. I have had my eye out for a small log cabin though and he says if I find the perfect one, we can move!
Blessings,
Betsy
If you get that log cabin, I see a cottage garden in your future, Betsy!
Slow gardening…that’s what I would call it. It’s all so beautiful….so idyllic! Instant gratification is way over-rated. Slow gardening…you created the perfect example! ;)
Slow gardening. I like that, Donnamae!
A garden and cottage made more beautiful because of the love of a good man and good loving dogs. I call that the best life ever.
It’s a pretty great life. I don’t take it for granted for a minute.
So lovely!
(And I LOVE your porch.)
Thank you, Jo(e). That porch was a big selling point for us, that’s for sure!
I can understand how much you must miss the garden during the winter months, and look forward to the Spring awakening.
I do. It seems like such a long wait, too. Winters are tough in the northeast, increasingly so, and this year spring was late in coming.
I LOVE a cottage garden. I am going to start transforming mine next Spring. Annuals are getting so expensive! It will be a slow transformation for my garden as well. My inspiration usually come in small doses which I am thankful for or I would overwhelm my own-self ;-).
I will be getting a start of buttercups from my neighbor this fall and will move on from there next spring.
Annuals can get VERY expensive. Perennials really pay off in the long run and eventually, the garden costs next-to-nothing. Just some yearly mulch.
What a beautiful place you have, Claudia! When I look at the images on my screen I can feel the moisture laden air that is heavy with the sent of flowers. Right now, with this ugly drought, I have not planted any flowers this year, not even a tomato plant. It makes me sad, so wandering through your garden is an absolute delight. Thank you for sharing your beautiful space.
Thank you, Teresa. I’m so sorry about the drought. It’s such a blight and such a worry for everyone suffering through it. I pray for some needed rain (lots of it) to come your way.
Your gardens are so beautiful -it makes the heart feel good! Thank you so much for sharing this beauty with us~
You are very welcome. It’s my pleasure.
Wow Claudia…how beautiful it all is…I love the last picture too…what a sweet and peaceful looking home you have…love the porch and the funky patio as you call it..lol..Enjoy it all..you worked so hard to get it to where it is today…..Were the big rocks there or did you put them in??…I would love to have some to plant flowers around..it always looks so pretty and natural…My dream was a place in the country with woods on one side and water on the other…that is what I have here….the woods on one side gradually going up the side of a tall ridge…and a sweet little brook (I usually call it the creek but it’s a bit smaller than that) on the other side at the end of my large yard….When I walk along it the little frogs make a funny sound and jump in the water…I love hearing them make their peeping sound at night…sigh…
It sounds heavenly, Nancy! We have a creek across the street and a river down the road, but we have to walk a bit to get there. Though we can hear the bullfrog in my neighbor’s pond and I love that.
A lot of the big rocks that are near the driveway were already in place, but I’ve added many more to edge each of the garden beds.
I don’t think we have seen some of those views before……. so fun! I don’t remember ever going all around the house like that previously. Thanks for sharing.
Perennials are certainly a “bargain” in the long run. And it is always such a great surprise and adventure to watch it all come up and bloom once again. Most especially after we are so tired of the piles and piles of snow. It is hard to believe those wonderful flowers we will soon be enjoying are resting right below, and just waiting…… another gardening miracle to enjoy!
It’s a miracle that all of us who endure winter need desperately! Thank you Mother Nature!
All of your hard work has paid off with fantastic results!!! xx
Thank you, Amy!
It looks so beautiful! I especially like the phlox and haven’t seen that since I moved from NY. Thanks for sharing these photos, they lifted my mood today.
Oh, I’m so glad! I hope they brought a smile to your face. Now, if I could only somehow transmit the scent!
Claudia, I was surprised to learn how long you’ve been working at getting your garden to its present shape, and how much work was involved, because every single time you post wider views of your garden, I’m struck by how organic it all looks. As though everything just popped up right where it is! And probably a direct result of the fact that you DIDN’T use a professional. So pretty and natural. Now it’s lemonade time – inside… :>)
Inside for sure! Gosh it’s miserable out there!
Your hard work has certainly paid off. The setting seems very serene…and you have a lovely house and garden. Every time the monthly mortgage payment comes due, just look all around you and know it’s all worth it.
I’m curious…when you own land that is dense woods and I assume nothing is fenced…I don’t know much about living in ‘the country'(!)…you don’t ‘check’ on it occasionally or anything like that? It’s just ‘there’ and takes care of itself? It sounds like you can’t really ‘walk it’ if it’s so dense and inpenetrable…which means nobody else could either. Where I live, there are more stories all the time of startling discoveries of homeless people camping out on other people’s properties, even when it’s not all that remote. But I live in Southern California which has little-to-no cold weather, so it’s more hospitable to the desperate person who has no literal roof over them. Also, here, because of wildfire danger and drought, there are strict municipal/county laws about brush/weed abatement and keeping land ‘cleared’ of overgrowth yet, of course, we have ‘ranches’ here with lots of acreage in the hills and canyons but I do know of owners who regularly patrol…however, that’s due more to orchard thievery (big business in avocados, especially). I realize it’s impossible for me to envision what it’s like in the Northeast, having never been there.
The woods that are on the side edges of the property are partly ours and partly our neighbors. We have no problem with people staying in the woods. Remember this is the northeast – the weather isn’t all that hospitable. The woods in the back has paths that we made and we can walk them.
We’re in a pretty quiet and safe area.
Hi Claudia. I usually respond through email, but now that I have a lap top it is easier and much better to read my blogs instead of using the iPad. I am always so happy for those when their dreams do come true. Your garden is lovely, most especially because it is not professionally designed. I noticed your hydrangeas. I wish I could grow them. Little wonder that your dollhouse is so wonderful. You have the touch.
Oh, thank you, Ann. I now have three hydrangea bushes – the big Annabelle on the side of the house, a limelight in front of the house and the newer Endless Summer hydrangea with the purple blooms that I planted last year. One of the perks of living here is that I can grow hydrangeas. And lilacs and peonies!
Simply stunning! Your hard work has paid off big time!