I have learned that envisioning something you desire, really picturing it in your mind repeatedly, with attention to the details of your goal, can increase your ability to achieve it. I’m here to tell you it works!
By hearing the names of flowers in bouquets I’ve been given + a poem or two from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, I have discovered my unmatched love for the ethereal beauty of classic flowers seen in a cottage-style garden. As with many things of a bygone era, there is a kind of unspoken magic about something that at one time was so admired + commonplace, but now taken for granted or overlooked. I have long been dreaming of a garden of pink climbing roses + “Juliets” with paper like folds; delicate veronica, bold coneflower, regal delphinium + foxglove; old fashioned hollyhock, classic hydgrandea, peony, rosemary, shasta daisies that stand tall beside rambling asters, bright bee balm, cornflowers + lavender.
While I most typically refer to this dream as a “cottage garden” in my mind, identified by it’s mass plantings, wild shape + variety of cut-flowers, herbs + vegetables, I realize it is the cut-flower attribute I am after most. What could be nicer than the simple luxury of stepping outside into a garden of mature plants from which to cut + arrange beautiful bouquets for a special dinner, house guest or just because!?
Here are a few pictures from our big planting day last weekend as an update to this post + this one about our gardening plans + progress!
The bees have been busy + just so happy to have some additional nectar to farm. . . I never thought I’d be quite so thrilled to see bees, but they are faithful friends of the garden + a joy to see them making their energetic visits from bloom to bloom. It brings real meaning to the saying “busy as a bee”. We have seen no hummingbirds in a couple weeks now, but we are always looking out. . . I hope to one day have the camera ready to capture a snap to share with you—hummingbirds are a real treat to see up close—that’s another post for another day. Thanks for stopping by! Fingers crossed we’ll have more updates as the garden grows through the Fall.
porches + pillowfights 