Cottage garden

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 023

Amy Cottage garden , , , ,
What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 023

Hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus) often called Christmas or Lenten Rose. They are particularly valued by gardeners for their winter and early spring flowering period. The plants are surprisingly frost-resistant, and many are evergreen like ours.

 

They are also valued for their shade tolerance. Most of our cottage garden is in shade during the late fall to early spring months and hellebores help make it a four-season garden!

 

I found all kinds of lore around this plant. At one time the Christmas Rose was used to predict the weather. In the countryside, people cut twelve flowers on Christmas Eve and placed them in a vase. Each flower symbolized the weather for one month of the following year. The forecast was based on whether the flowers opened or not. Closed flowers indicated bad weather and open flowers indicated good weather. I’ll have to try this next Christmas Eve and report my findings. 😉

 

Published by Amy on Mar 6, 2018

 

What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 024

Amy Cottage garden , , , ,
What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 024

Snowflakes are often confused with snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) as they look almost identical. You can tell the difference between the two flowers by the fact that snowflakes have a green dot at the tip of each of its six petals, while snowdrops have dots on only three of its petals.

 

Summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) blooms in late winter/early spring, not in summer despite its name. It usually goes dormant by summer. Our summer snowflakes at The Cottage have been blooming each winter for over 20 years! The banana slugs like to munch on them, but the deer don’t. The soft chocolate scent they give off makes me hungry for a chocolatey beverage right now! Time to take a break.
 
Published by Amy on Feb 20, 2018

Summer snowflake at Loma Mar vacation cottage

 

What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 028

Amy Cottage garden , , , , ,
What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 028

Flowering Plum. Simply gorgeous. I remember when we first put it in about 6 years ago when it was a wee baby. Now, look at it! Those redwoods have some competition…

 

Flowering plum (Prunus cerasifera) is a small to medium-sized ornamental tree native to Asia. This tree is one of the earliest spring bloomers, harkening the arrival of the season. Although, ours always seem to bloom in late winter. The leaves sprout after the bloom fades away from the trees. Around summertime, the leaves of the tree will change color from glossy green to deep, bright burgundy. Famous poet Lin Bu of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) sums up a plum tree beautifully:
 
How Plum Flowers Embarrass a Garden
When everything has faded they alone shine forth
encroaching on the charms of smaller gardens
their scattered shadows fall lightly on clear water
their subtle scent pervades the moonlit dusk
snowbirds look again before they land
butterflies would faint if they but knew
thankfully I can flirt in whispered verse
I don’t need a sounding board or winecup.
 
Published by Amy on: Feb 13, 2018

 
Little pink petals are showered down all over the place (including the hot tub) like confetti. I love it.
 
Close up flowering plum Loma Mar cottage

Flowering plum confetti

What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 021

Amy Cottage garden , , , , , ,
What’s Growing at The Cottage No. 021

Camellias (Camellia japonica). This year the camellias really outdid themselves. I know, I know, I say this every year. But the trees are LOADED with fragrant delicate creamy pink flowers waiting to put a smile on your face. The flowers are elegant, understated, and beautiful against their deep glossy green leaves. It was one of Coco Chanel’s inspirations and the camellia buds are an iconic symbol of Chanel’s haute couture line. When asked what she ate for lunch Coco Chanel replied once: “Madame, I eat a camellia, and in the evening, I eat an orchid.”
 
Camellias are originally found in eastern and southern Asia but today they are grown all over with more than 3,000 in a remarkable range of colors, forms, and sizes. They are highly valued for their very early flowering, often among the first flowers to appear in the late winter. They are such happy, cheery trees always putting a smile on my face and I hope you too. Come on over and have one with your lunch.

 

Published by Amy on February 6, 2018

Camellias growing at Loma Mar vacation cottage

 
Camellia tree at Loma Mar cottage

Camellia at Loma Mar cottage

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 099

Amy Cottage garden

Dwarf Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) – don’t even try pronouncing the Latin name! Showy, versatile and durable groundcover for sun or shade. Electric blue flowers spread slowly, providing wonderful drifts of color from midsummer to fall. The ground cover emerges burgundy in spring and later turns emerald green. In autumn, the foliage gets red-tinged once again offering a final spray of late season color. It can tolerate occasional foot traffic as ours is planted along a path in the photo. Two additional bonuses (if the foliage wasn’t enough) are its deer resistance and, once established, can tolerate drought.

 

Published by Amy on: Sep 12, 2017

 

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 098

Amy Cottage garden

Impatiens. The classic old reliable annual for shade. They are native to tropical Africa where they are perennials but in North America, they are treated as annuals. Impatiens are one of the few inexpensive flowering plants that will put on a floral display when grown in full shade although they can grow in full sun too. Their ripe seed pods will sometimes open from even the lightest touch as if they were impatient to open – hence the name. We like them because they provide color for such a long period of time and don’t take any care. Perfect for vacation rental gardens.

 

Published by Amy on : Aug 22, 2017

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 097

Amy Cottage garden
What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 097

Cosmos are renowned for their profuse blooms and generous self-seeding habit of comic proportions – sorry, I couldn’t resist! They grow as easily in beds as they do in containers and they also make great cut flowers. Cosmos can handle drought, poor soil conditions, and general neglect. They even self-sow, but not to the point of becoming a nuisance. This is a truly low maintenance plant that adds a frilly texture to the garden of…. you got it, cosmic proportions.

 

Published by Amy on: Aug 8, 2017

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 096

Amy Cottage garden
What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 096

Spicebush (Calycanthus occidentalis). This shrub is native to the mountains of central and northern California and is pollinated by beetles. The bright green leaves have a sharp, clean fragrance and turn yellow in autumn, adding seasonal color to the garden. It can get quite tall and wide (up to 12 feet) and may need pruning depending on where it is. The maroon-red flowers that bloom in summer and into fall for us, are a bonus as the shrub is beautiful on its own. I think the flowers resemble small water lilies. And, guess what the flowers smell like? Red wine! Really. It’s cocktail time.

 

Published by Amy on: Jul 25, 2017

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 095

Amy Cottage garden
What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 095

Dwarf New Zealand tea tree or sometimes known as Manuka myrtle (Leptospermum scoparium). It’s an evergreen shrub which grows 2 ft. tall and wide and blooms in the spring with a burst of vibrant dainty flowers and wild twisting branches.

 

When Captain Cook was exploring Australia and New Zealand he made tea from the leaves on this plant to ward off scurvy.
 

This species has an interesting history as New Zealanders considered this plant to be a toxic weed and did everything they could to destroy it! Today we have learned that not only is manuka used in various conservation projects – it looks after the next generation of plants and help them to develop into a future forest – but the honey made from the nectar of this shrub can be used to treat infections like MRSA. You know MRSA; you go into the hospital with four limbs and come out with three from an infection. Stay away from those death traps and eat manuka honey instead but I digress…
 

Published by Amy on: Jun 13, 2017

What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 094

Amy Cottage garden
What’s Growing At The Cottage No. 094

Weeds. And more weeds! We seem to have an endless supply. The weird thing is they’ve never been planted anywhere in the yard. Yet they mysteriously pop up everywhere! You pull them out and like magic, they’ll come back! Really. Weeds would be the perfect plant for anyone who has a brown thumb. No maintenance, water or care of any kind required. I’ll be happy to mail you some to try. Anyone in??

 

Published by Amy on: Jun 6, 2017