The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

Flowers from the garden: August 2009

Photo: Flowers from the garden. August 2009

Photo: Flowers from the garden. August 2009

I suddenly realised that it was the last day of August so I had a wander in the garden and found these.

I’ve waited two years for this one eachinea flower. It hurt to pluck it but it just had to join this group. It is, after all, a celebration of flowers that you can easily grow in an English cottage garden.

Not having bought flowers since January 2007 has forced me to overhaul the herbaceous borders. They are now packed with flowers all summer. By adding plants from wayside stands and garden fetes, the transformation wasn’t expensive. It just took a couple of years and a bit of luck to get established.

I love the softness of garden flowers they look as though they breathe.


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10 Comments

  1. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Jodi

    I love my hens too.

    Glad that you are enjoying the blog.

    Hi Leslie

    Rain can ruin garden flowers in a matter of days. What a shame for you.

    Let’s hope the winter isn’t too cold.

    Hello Linda

    Home grown are so much softer but they don’t last quite as long. I’ve come to prefer them to shop ones.

    Hi Tamara

    I bought 2 plants from Chelsea and 2 plants from Hampton Court and both lots were expensive and didn’t survive the winter.

    Then I spotted a small plant in the herb section of a nursery garden in Cambridge for 99p. I planted this in a dry border where a lot of plants struggle to survive. Perhaps they like harsh conditions?

    Hi Kate (uk)

    This was a chance happening. I’d given up on them and suddenly this one appeared!

    Hi LindaM

    Oh you are lucky, they are such pretty and useful flowers.

    Hi Carol

    It’s the large pink daisy like flower in the middle. Shame about the astrantia.

    Hello Wendy

    I like that “you are not alone” plugin too!

    Hi GTM

    It’s feverfew. And the other one is a different type of feverfew. They grow like a weed all over the garden.

    A surprise bouquet is such a treat.

  2. They are divine :o) What is the little white one perched above the rudbekia? it looks different from the more daisy looking ones to the right of the bunch? I was very blessed the other day to get sent a Wiggly Wigglers bouquet from a darling friend to cheer me up,it was all native,in season flowers & foliage,such a lovely thing so full of life! a contrast to the lary coloured plastic wrapped bundles in the shops
    GTM x

  3. Such a pretty summery picture.
    By the way I really love the bit on your blog which shows how many people are reading it at the same time as me. It is halfpast midnight at the moment and I have 9 other readers keeping me company. x

  4. I have echinacea growing wild on our farm but somebody helped themselves to them while we weren’t looking. Luckily they are growing back now that its fall. I don’t think I could handle a two year wait otherwise. Your arrangement is lovely!

  5. That echinacea is stunning which one is it? I have had them on my wish list for ages but haven’t found any cheap ones yet. Open gardens are a good way of getting reasonably priced plants and if the garden is local you have some guarantee of the plant doing well in your own garden. Unfortunatly the astrantia I bought at a garden this year I have just discovered has been totally devastated by slugs – fingers crossed it may regenerate before the winter sets in.

  6. kate (uk)

    Every now and again I see some stunning echinaceas in a garden and I am seduced into trying to grow echinacea, every time, disaster. I’ve tried different places in the garden, I’ve tried pampering and neglect.I’ve tried different varieties.I’ve tried growing from seed and buying plants. Never managed to make them do anything but slowly disappear.
    Well done Fiona to get one to flower!

  7. Interesting to know the your eachinea has taken a while to come on, I have planted two plants from seed but have nothing to show for it apart from a few sorry looking leaves. Do you know if they normally take a while to establish themselves then.

  8. They look so fresh and soft – so unlike some bought flowers which look as though they are stuffed with preservatives (they probably are!).

  9. I’m so jealous. We had a terribly cool and very damp (read rain 50 out of 60 days) summer and many of my flowers just rotted. Even the wild flowers didn’t prosper this year. Thank god(dess) for the neighbors’ zinnias to which I have free access! The neighbors have a greenhouse you see so their seedlings grew very strong before being set out. I wish us each a mild winter.

  10. jodi lenz

    Hello,

    I found your lovely little blog while searching the Internet for information on raising chickens. Thanks to you, I have 2 happy hens, some delicious eggs, and a good read to go with my coffee in the morning.

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