Garden Progress 2026

The garden is off to a good start here at the beginning of summer. I started eighty percent of it from seed this year to save money. There were many more native plants that like our climate. 

Every year the garden is an experiment. I try new things and change things around. I used to be bothered by the change-ups due to something not liking the place I put it or the weather being so harsh, but now I like it. It gives me something to go out and tinker with. This garden planting system was new to me this year, and I am still seeing how it turns out, but so far so good. I mixed up as many herbs and flowers as I could in with the veg; this confuses the bugs. 

So far it has worked. I have some beds not planted as densely and some planted really densely. A few things are also volunteer, and I just let them come up and fill in the bed. 

The chives got repotted. They had been over run with grass seed that had gotten into the pot by mowing. 

The lavender I started from seed two years ago, it is really beautiful this year. I brought an ornamental bee skep out to place in the bed for fun, and it really looks at home here.

I have grown nasturtium for years and the seed from the store doesn't germinate very well at all. Last year I noticed the one plant I had that was thriving was producing a lot of seed. I saved that seed and this year I planted it and I had close to perfect germination. That is a trick I will use again.

I love these dark purple bachelor's buttons, this was Black Ball.

A clematis that is new to me. Last year I noticed Menards was selling $5 perennials. I found this in the selections and was thrilled to find a clematis that wasn't expensive. It is growing really well. 

I have also found the secret to sowing poppies. It is called snow sowing. I get a lot of ideas for gardening off of YouTube and one person I watch said to go out in the winter and sow your poppy seeds right into the snow. This gives them moisture, cold stratification, and they germinate when the time is right. I have done this two years in a row and it does work. 

The Cathedral Bells rose.

These sown last year only bloomed this year. They are related to chamomile, but you don't drink them. They are the Marguerite daisy. I always wanted some of these but couldn't find them in a garden center, so I just grew them from seed. They will come back each year.  

For all the seed that I started and didn't have anywhere to plant it, Hubs made me a plant shelf along the shed. He just used a large board on top of concrete blocks. 

I am now starting to get bouquets! That is the best part of growing all of these flowers.

In Victory,

Sherry

Cruet Set Flower Arrangement

The cruet set was popular in the 19th century on tables to hold the condiments. They really aren't in use much anymore. I had an old one that I didn't know what to do with, and it occurred to me it would be pretty filled with flowers. 

The thing I noticed right away is that regardless of which way you turned it, your flowers were lovely! 

It is really four vases in one.

I took it outside to photograph so the cruet set was more visible. This set has old, tarnished, and broken tops, so it really gave it a "new" life. 

Do you have a unique way to arrange flowers? 

In Victory,

Sherry

Plants for a Cottage Garden

So I have been trying to create a cottage garden for at least 12 years. It is a labor of love. When searching for what plants are considered cottage garden plants, much to my surprise, I found most of them now growing in my garden. Maybe not growing all at once in the same year, but most of them. 

What is the first plant you think of in a cottage garden? For me, it is the rose. I have tried roses with success. This rose in particular. It is an old garden rose called Zephirine Drouhin.

Peonies, this one is Sarah Bernhardt. 

Daylilies: this variety grows wild here and lines the roads in the country in late spring. I dug this up and brought it here from my grandmother's house. I don't know its name.

Shasta daisies, which also grow wild here in the summer and they line the highways in the country.

Salvia; this one is Victoria blue. The bumble bees love these! 

Catmint- some of the cats love this.

Violets, which grow wild here also, this clump was volunteer and wild, and I eventually pulled it, but it is beautiful.

Foxglove, I have not successfully kept these going in the yard. I will try again this year.

Hollyhock, I am not sure which one this is. I have completely different ones coming up this year. 

Bachelor's button: these are the classic romantic variety.

Feverfew, this is white wonder. It is an heirloom double feverfew, and it comes back every year.

Dianthus are also called cottage pinks.

 

Chamomile, I just love the herbs, and thankfully, they have been easy to grow. Borage is at the bottom right of this picture.

Lavender, I am not sure which one this is, but fern leaf lavender is really easy to grow from seed. 

Hydrangea, this is not from my yard. I have a small one, but I took this picture on vacation years ago at the Columbia restaurant in St. Augustine, FL. 

The bearded Iris. I have no idea what this is called, but my grandmother gave them to me, and I brought them here and planted them. They used to grow along a fence row in front of my house when I was little.

Calendula, this sort of looks like strawberry blonde, but I am not sure. It also might be flashback or zeolights; they are all similar.

Clematis; this one is Nelly Moser. It has never climbed, but it weaves through this small garden of daylilies and coreopsis.

 

Nasturtium, I believe this is cherry rose.

Ferns, if you have a shady spot, are wonderful. This is a cinnamon fern.

Yarrow, I love this one, it comes back every year, and the fernlike foliage is beautiful.

A geranium in a terra cotta pot. They have to be in the clay pot; it is just a classic! I buy these every year from our local Future Farmers of America greenhouse sale. They do a fantastic job growing these.

Cosmos, I think this is rubenza.

Black eyed susan, this is another plant that grows wild here in the summer and lines the country roads under the partial shade of a tree. This variety is Indian summer.

Zinnias, all of them! You can never have too many zinnias.

Marigolds, dwarf French marigolds are a classic. I also like strawberry blonde. This year, I am hoping to grow white ones.

I also have two lilac bushes, but they have never had their picture taken. I am not sure why.

So these plants are growing this year, and hopefully they will come up. The foxglove and hollyhock were new additions last year. I am also trying sweet peas and echinacea. I have the fondest memory of a sweet pea with a wonderful scent growing every year by an old Victorian home that was on the farm where I grew up, and it has me nostalgically trying to recreate that in my garden.

And be sure if you create your cottage garden to stop and smell the flowers and enjoy the wildlife.

Scenes from my cottage garden. I definitely have Beatrix Potter's eye behind the camera lens. These two little kittens have a story all their own.

In Victory, 
Sherry