You know the moment. When the trimmer is put away, the garden hose is curled, and you look out to your yard thinking, Yes. This is exactly perfect. For most people, that moment lasts roughly 14 seconds.
The cottage garden is 8 years old this year.
The fence is 27 and looks it.
Exactly perfect is no longer an aspiration for my front yard, moderately upright is.
If the actual garden is a dewy ingenue running through a meadow, the picket fence is her grandfather in his housecoat yelling at a raccoon. The posts are rotted, the pickets are snapping and it's all being held up by a couple of metal T posts and an angry stare.
I've known this day was coming for the 6 years I've been ignoring it. The fence owes me nothing but it seems to be influencing the antique brick path which has also decided to go the dilapidated route. I can't have that. I can't have a fence that's encouraging the rest of the garden to fall apart. The whole front yard has taken on a bit of a Grey Gardens vibe when I'd prefer more of a Kennedy Compound—less raccoon, more regatta.
Luckily, the flowers are pulling enough focus to distract from the more decrepit elements. For now.
Right now, it's the time of year when everything is on the cusp. Just enough blooms to feel hopeful. Not so many that I can relax. Flowering at the moment: the ever-determined Hansa rose (which I hacked back like it owed me money and it came back stronger), Shirley Temple peonies who are obviously showing off for the rhubarb, Snow Goose poppies, catmint, alyssum, and cress.
The window boxes are just getting going. I grew and planted snapdragons, alyssum, heliotrope, petunias, and verbena in them. The pansies are still pretending it's spring, which is adorable. I’m letting them live the lie as long as they can. Once they pass out in July, the rest of the plants will fill in those spaces in the boxes.
I think.
Coming soon: dahlias, zinnias, celosia, amaranth, perennial sweet peas, phlox, marigolds, lavender, cosmos, daylilies (unless I finally act on my threats to pull them), and at least three things I’ll only remember when I see them bloom. Oh right. Bells of Ireland. Forgot those. Again.
You can read the list of all the dahlias I'm growing this year in this post from earlier in the spring.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
I tried larger blocks of plantings this year. Not formal, just... less chaotic. Think crowd scenes, not soloists. The idea was to create visual calm among the chaos. Which is also why I have grass. Yes, grass. I know. It’s full of clover and dandelions, but it’s the thing that lets the flowers go a little wild without the whole space looking like I’ve abandoned society.
The lawn will get fixed when the fence does. It all needs a reset. There’s celery tucked into corners, cabbages hiding among alyssum, and a lone tomato that'll grow straight, flat up the fence. Like this. Every night I walk outside with another leftover seedling, stick it in a spot, and pretend it was intentional. Last night it was a marigold, the night before, radish seeds. If questioned, I call it a design style. Imperfect, naturalistic, organic. That usually shuts people up.
And by people I mean the ones in my head telling me the garden is a mess. Everyone who walks past only compliments it. Like Wilson. Wilson has never had a bad thing to say about my garden unpainted fence.
I'm trying very hard, with all of my might, to make THIS the year not a single plant goes unplanted. At the moment I don't really care whether they make it or not, I just don't want to be watch them die in their little pots under my care for the 27th year in a row.
The dahlias at home are under heavy protection this year. Last year half of them were systematically dismantled by rabbits, slugs, and earwigs. This year? Fortified. They’ve been wrapped in hardware cloth, watered, and are being monitored daily. I’ve only almost lost one. It’s still with us.
It's the uncovered dahlia below that looks like it should be playing for The Bad News Bears. There's a scraggy alyssum in front of it.
I also put up my DIY earwig traps that work a few days ago, and every morning they’re full of crawling earwigs. This always sends my emotional state into turmoil. Like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine that pays out in bugs.
In a few days, the apple espaliers will get their first prune of the season. It’s when I stop pretending I don’t have squirrels and start proactively outsmarting them with dollar store green plastic cloches. Not charming, but effective.
So that’s Year 8. Not perfect. But charming in spite of it. Like someone with spinach in their teeth who still somehow wins you over. I’ll post again when everything explodes into bloom. Until then, I’ll be outside sticking things in the ground and hoping for the best.
Still gardening. Still growing. Mostly flowers, occasionally resentment toward the sun and rain for not allowing me to control them.
Welcome to Year 8.
Genevieve dee Gonsor
I love u our garden.i love the old fence. My garden is a mess.i can't keep up with the weeds so I just enjoy the flowers.
Genevieve dee Gonsor
I meant I love your garden
Karen
Thanks Genevieve! I'm fond of the decrepit fence too - but it's falling over. :/ ~ karen!
Hettie
With everything you have on your plate, Karen, I think you're doing a super job. You're making your corner of the world friendlier and prettier, and everyone - people, and creatures - appreciates it. :)
Kat - the other 1
Do your pansies reseed themselves all over your yard?
They just kinda throw up their seeds in projectile fashion.
Had them once and now they come up randomly all over the yard lol.
The lawn guy thinks they're weeds and keeps trying to kill them. Sigh. So one of my dianthus decided to give it a go too lol. They don't seem to mind getting mowed. May even be spreading more. I should check for flowers, he hasn't been able to come cause of the weather.
Hmm, since the stupid septic field now covers pretty much the entire front, back, and side yard (ugh! Don't ask, ack!), I should see about sprinkling some dianthus, pansy, and maybe petunia seeds all over the back field just to see what happens. Hahaha...
(Not my yard, I just work in it.)
Karen
Pansies or are they violas? I've never heard of pansies popping up all over. ~ karen!
Kat - the other 1
Both.
Also, All pansies are violas, but not all violas are pansies. But you probably knew that. :)
Marilyn Majalca
What a beautiful lace cap hydrangea (I think) growing on the corner of your porch. The whole garden looks great. I look forward to this annual post every year. Happy solstice!
Karen
Thanks Marilyn! I'm going to try to be better this year about posting it once a month so you can see the progression. :) ~ karen!
Jody
The perfect cottage garden vibe.
Mary W
When you redo your brick walkway - I will be intently looking at how you don't let it fill with weeds. My only idea is to plant weeds and act very mad if it doesn't grow them in abundance. My guess is I won't get mad.
Kelly Saint
I bought a big container of blood meal this year and sprinkled it around the garden .
It must have worked ! The squirrels and rabbits avoided my tulips and now the peonies !!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Karen
Oh! Excellent. I normally reserve blood meal for onions but maybe I'll 'branch out'. ~ karen!
Ann
If you can afford it, go with cast aluminum fencing. Costly but is made to look authentically period and will last forever more. I have white around a garden off the separate apartment we have that I use as a craft studio. It cost a pretty penny 14 years ago and I can't imagine what it would cost now with tariffs and all. But your garden is so worth it
Karen
I'm pretty set on keeping a white picket fence but I considered this traditional type of metal fencing for a long time. They really are beautiful. ~ karen!
Charlene
Chaos reigns here too unless it's the Dahlia garden. Then it's military precision. Deets on the source for heliotrope seeds please! I'm obsessed with heliotrope in pots but it's a hard plant to find at retail.
Karen
Hi Charlene - I'm not sure if you're in Canada or the US, but I got my heliotrope seeds from William Dam Seeds in Canada. https://www.damseeds.com/products/marine. I really like a highly scented garden, and these are SO scentey. ;) ~karen!
Chris W.
Seeing your garden just makes me happy - there's no garden police so plant whatever, wherever, and enjoy it! I actually like the way the fence looks but I totally get that you want it to keep standing so I guess that's a project to tackle in the fall. For now, just let all the Wilsons and yourself of course enjoy the fruits of all your labor. (He really is a cutie...)
Addie
Wilson is adorable!!!!
If you really want to make yourself sick, check out Linda Vater's channel on Youtube!!! Oh!!! Her front and back yard is to die for....but at this point she does get a lot of help.
Terry Rutherford
Beautiful (except possibly the fence. No shade)! Hansa are so tolerant and your peonies are spectacular. I have a yellow one in bloom I swear I never planted. Oh well, it’s welcome. I have a runabout that’s still full of seedlings too and I too am determined to plant those, even if amidst cantaloupes. I have some lisianthus that I started in January if you can believe it and those puppies are going in with the onions tomorrow if I can’t find a prettier spot. So I sympathize with your seedlings. Hang on, little guys!
Brutally hot weather forecast for next week (not this coming) so take care.
Karen
Hi Terry. Congratulations on the lisanthus! I grew it once and thought - O.K., I've done that, no need to do it again, lol. I love the flowers but it's a real commitment to see them from seed to flower. ~ karen!
SUSAN COADY-BUTLER
The gardens are lovely. I agree with Wilson. The world needs more Wilsons.