Hi Darstar :) What area of the country are you living in? Do you know what zone? The warmer zones have longer growing seasons, while colder zones (like mine) usually have shorter seasons. This makes a difference, when you're planning your gardens.

I think it's nice to always have something blooming somewhere, often in the same garden. You can do this by having bulbs, then early perennials (like peonies) and then later perennials (like coneflowers). Mix in some annuals and you have more color later in the summer. If you like roses, you can either put in old fashioned roses that give you early summer flowers, or use repeat blooming roses (like David Austin) that give you color all summer.

The idea of a different bed blooming each month sounds interesting. If you have the space, that could be fun. I have such a short growing season, I like to have something blooming in every bed as often as possible :)

My style is more of a country cottage style with a little enchanted/fairy tale garden accents...mostly for the nieces and nephews. I love roses, but prefer small roses or those that change color (like Gallicas) and once blooming roses. Hybrid teas don't do well with our cold winters, but I might try a few David Austins this year, just for a little extra color. I have a front bed that is going to be mostly tall phlox, hybrid musk roses (small flowers and almost thornless, since I have to paint the house once in a while) perennial geraniums (cranesbill) and some annuals mixed in, like cosmos and alyssum. This bed turns the corner into the fairy garden for my nieces. This has the gallica roses that bloom in early summer, with butterfly bushes and coneflowers behind them for later summer bloom. Also have a lot of annuals I add into this garden, along with a few fairy roses and some violets around the bird bath. Most of my other gardens are for vegetables, herbs and fruit, but I mix a lot of flowers in with these, too, for color and to bring in beneficial insects.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have some nice seating areas (maybe in the shade or under an arbor) so you can sit out and enjoy your garden spaces. Also consider adding some white flowers that will show up at night. I plant star jasmine and white petunias in pots on both sides of the porch that are have a wonderful fragrance in the summer evenings. I enjoyed that so much last year, this year I'm desiging a small fragrance garden for shrub and climing roses and vines, as well as herbs for tea and potpourri. (That's where I'm thinking of using the David Austin roses.) I hope to have a small table and two chairs under an arbor with climbing roses above and maybe some more star jasmine and petunias.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have fun planning your garden. Be sure to post pictures :)

For most of us, it is not possible to have a garden packed with blooming flowers from early spring thru fall. We can certainly have *something* in bloom for all those months but we can't have a non-stop blaze of glory unless, perhaps, we concentrate on all annuals. Even then....

Gertrude Jekyll designed and wrote for wealthy people gardening in one of the most garden-friendly climates possible. In addition, there were thousands of experienced hired gardeners to do much of the work. Jekyll's designs usually focused on one brief season per garden border or garden "room". Her estate gardens comprised acres so there could be an early spring border, a late August garden "room" and so on. You visited what was in spectacular bloom and left the rest alone.

Jekyll did indeed draw her inspiration from the cottage gardens she saw around her in England but she did not design cottage gardens. She was a gifted artist--I don't think anyone, anywhere has come close to her designs for flower gardens. There are a number of books with watercolors of her gardens and others like them. They are luscious inspiration for all who love cottage gardens.

For the rest of us, we have a decision to make between two types of flower gardens. We can have a garden with something in bloom at all times and also endure the ugliness of things past their peak or not ready for prime time.

Or we can focus on one or two seasons for peak bloom, which was my choice after not being happy with option #1. Mid-June and most of July into early August are my peak. Then things go slowly downhill and I try to plan my vacation for that time. Then it's September and I'm ready for the glories of the trees and shrubs here in New England. These distract me from my swooning perennial border.

If I had a paid staff and acres to garden in I might consider seasonal gardens, but since there's just me and DH on a city lot I'll plant for a succession of blooms.

mao

Thank you for your feedback! I do have a slight advantage because I am in zone 8 in Florida. We have quite a long growing season here, which I am very thankful for.

It all depends on plot size. Gertrude Jekyll enjoyed a large garden and sure she devoted entire plots to seasonal flowers.

For most of us, we have small plots and therefore enjoy a mingling to plants. I would say that the original cottage gardeners had also small plots and so they utilized whatever spaces they had for the plants they enjoyed. No structure, just a mishmash of plants.

I do have to disagree However that we couldn't possibly enjoy continuous flowering from spring to fall in the same plot. I in fact, practice succession gardening. My small stamp sized plot has flowers blooming from spring to fall. It all depends on layering and how deep the soil has been worked, and choosing plants carefully so as one dies out, another one is blooming and another is set to bloom... It's easy to manage the bloom schedules too.

Hi darstar (BTW--would your GW name be related to a certain song from the Grateful Dead? :) )~*~*~*~*~

I would totally recommend having shocks of colors at every area of your garden, rather than individualized borders. I agree with the above posts with the addition that I would rather see something of interest in more places than one border, so that when I make my strolls through the garden it will be more fun.

The reason I say that is because I have discovered that I enjoy my "cottage garden" most when I can wander the paths, seeing color, smelling a seasonal perfume, observing how everything progresses throughout the seasons, tasting a fruit or herb, finding a bench to sit on, or finding some flowers to cut for the house or a vegetable I can use, etc.

I have learned the best way to do the above is to have an organized chaos of everything you love everywhere, so that no part of your garden becomes boring. Make every square foot of your garden earn its keep!

Arthur

There are so many choices one can make for a cottage garden that I think it's necessary to see a lot of different ones to know which you like best. Besides climate there's also the *little* matter of how much time, money, and energy you want to, or are able to, devote to your garden. Having continuous bloom is lovely but requires a lot of planning and probably more work and expense to replace plants that are not as satisfactory as you initially thot.

I do like season-long bloom but also depend on texture, variegated and colored leaves, various shades of green, and decorative elements in my garden to provide interest.

I'm not very disciplined in my gardening, or as energetic as I was years ago, nor do I have staff (besides my DH!!!) so need to keep it simple.

After years of scorning annuals as a waste of money and wanting only perennials I've started using annuals for color here and there. I'll continue to do so as it works for me. I also garden by the organized chaos method.

Each gardener has to find what works for them to have maximum satisfaction in their own garden.

In reference to floweryearth's question, I wish I was that cool, but no. My real name is Darlene and my childhood best friend was trying to rhyme something with my name-mind you we were 8 at the time.

I have realized that I would prefer a stroll through my garden to see what is in bloom instead of avoiding areas entirely. I have a pretty good sized lot (1/4 acre), so I have some room to be creative. I've been dreaming of this garden I am planning for 6 years.

I started out with a little porch garden on a postage stamp slab outside my first apartment, then later had a rental house where I just filled in the holes. I learned so much from that house, so it makes me that much more intensive about planning. Practical things, like how to get a wheel barrel successfully across a yard without going through an obstacle course.

As for time, energy, and money--I don't have any children and I've just graduated from college after 7 years studying for my horticulture degree, I've got nothing but time now...finally! I'm one of those gardening nuts who is in their garden nearly everday, if just to deadhead or whatever, so that's not a problem. The money issue is interesting because recently I was hired by a top retail mail-order nursery and I get a 50% discount, so that helps.

Having said all that, it makes my possibilities endless, but difficult to narrow down. I constantly become overwhelmed by the choices I have. It's great to have advice from all of you to help make these decisions. So thank you.

"it makes my possibilities endless, but difficult to narrow down"

I felt this way when I migrated over. It wasn't just limited to gardening but went beyond to other hobbies. So here's what I say.. enjoy the journey. Even the mistakes are fun and exciting. Don't be afraid to experiment and if that doesn't work out, go back and start all over again.

Darstar- My dad lives in Tampa. He doesn't really spend a lot of time gardening, but he does have one thing in the yard he loves...shady places to sit with vines growing over them. Most of these are the free-standing swings you get from the big box stores. He uses all kinds of vines and climbing roses and has pots of flowers around the base. He has a few small beds of flowers against a fence, but mainly gardens around his swings. He did say something about redoing the area around the patio, so I think there may be more flowers in his future :)

I prefer something blooming in each flower bed if possible. In zone 8 Florida yes you are blessed with a great long gardening season. It will not be hard to find things to be blooming but it will be hard to decide what plants to use and how. I like to walk all around the property (3/4 acre) and see what is new or going on in each bed. I would not want there to be one particular spot to appreciate each month.
I keep a journal and love going back 1 yr and reading what was blooming, when the foliage turned, and what crazy project I was working on. Or what idea I had that didn't work -- or did!
What I would suggest to you is especially pay attention to beds that you 'interact' with often. Is there a seating area you will use alot? A cook-out area? Is there a view from a frequented window? Plan those areas well so that each week there is something of interest for you to see or smell. Don't forget shrubs and foliage plants, I just love flowers but foliage and grasses are neat too. For example a variegated weigela, a holly with berries. I also just must have several birdbaths and feeding stations -- and bird houses. Birds visiting frequently are just awesome. In Florida you can have lots of birds including hummers.
The possibilities for your gardens are endless!

I think this style of gardening would work only if you had a large property with "garden rooms". Shrubs or walls separating the different garden beds. That way if you are entertaining you can just direct the guests away from the areas that are past their prime. If you have a small yard do you really want to see an entire bed of bloomed out flowers? For most gardens mixing in things that will take over as others peter out works best.