The changing cottage garden

Isn’t it amazing how when you go away and then come back home again you pick up on changes you never noticed before?

The day after returning from Scotland I spent almost a good hour poking around the garden, amazed at all the new flowers that had suddenly appeared.

I’d initially wandered outside to give our vegetable patch a good drink (read more here and here) but kept on getting distracted by what I could see around me.

The rose bush by the front door is in full bloom and the flowers smell heavenly.  You catch the soft, powdery scent of the roses each time you leave and return to the house. Whether that was deliberate by whoever first planted the bush, I’m not sure, but it’s a lovely way to start and end the day. I have discovered however that these flowers don’t like to be cut.  I get a day, maybe two out of the stems before they start to wilt and brown off. It’s a shame, but a good excuse to stop and linger outside a little longer on a summer’s evening.

A few months ago Adam and I found some small plants in the garden, which we suspected were strawberries. I think we were right, as I’m sure the tiniest of strawberries are starting to grow now!

There are flowers – heaps of them – everywhere. I haven’t been able to work out what the pink stems are, the yellow I believe are lysimachia (a species I’ve never seen before) and the white I’m assuming are a type of daisy.

There is also a big bush full of these purple flowers, which I believe are hardy geraniums, that the bees adore.

I think I also found a new rose bush – possibly a rambler. It’s covered in buds at the moment and has small,  intensely coloured flowers. I’ve picked a few and popped them in a vase, so it’ll be interesting to see if they last longer than the roses by the front door.

It’s really exciting to be living in a house with an already established garden and discovering what’s planted.  So many of the species are completely different to what’s grown in Australia and it’s almost like a botany lesson every time I look around. I always thought cottage gardens were pretty, but now I appreciate how much thought, time and effort must go into planting one. I can’t wait to see what I discover next. 🙂