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A Writer's Garden Through the Garden Gates with Wendy L. MacDonald, Author Catherine Castle's blog, cottage gardens, Gardening blog, inspirational/mystery romance author Wendy L. MacDonald, pictures of cottage gardens
Welcome to My Cottage
I’d like to invite you to step through the gate and join me on a tour of my cottage garden. It’s both a refuge for me when I need to be alone and a welcoming place to share with special friends and family. Today I’d love to share it with you.
English cottage gardens are my absolute favorite; therefore you’ll find most of my perennial borders are characteristically unpredictable (I adore surprises). The blending of herbs, flowers, and even vegetables adds a charm and flavor I can drink in for hours. Our property is also divided into rooms. Rooms for privacy. Rooms for growing vegetables. And rooms with sunny spots for reading a favorite book (or hosting tea for two).
In the especially cottage looking areas of my garden I’ve allowed flowers to reseed and spill over onto paths and lawns. Some classic English garden flowers, such as Foxgloves, like to choose their own place to bloom—usually it’s outside the edges of a flowerbed. And this happens to reflect the changes that have happened within me over the years. I’m a recovering perfectionist who used to grow everything in a predictable and linear fashion. But my journey on earth has been as unpredictable as our coastal weather, and I have become more flexible due to the ebb and flow of life’s tide.
A more relaxed approach to landscaping has washed up on the shore of my cottage garden. I’ve embraced the casualness of allowing fern fronds to age and fall to the earth as a cozy skirt around each plant. This helps conserve moisture and keeps down weeds (and labor). Even autumn leaves are left to blanket the perennial borders while the lawnmower and my rake gather the ones from the lawn to feed my compost piles. There’s no room in a cottage garden for green-thumbs with control issues.
When my husband and I first viewed our present home, while shopping for a new place to live six years ago, the landscaping was the first thing we looked at. The house would have to have been a derelict to scare us off once we’d been smitten by the trees, shrubs, perennials, and overall ambiance of the property surrounding the forties-something house.
It’s one of the original homes on our road. At one time it was considered a farm house and was encircled by fields of cows and trees. It’s now down to ¾ of an acre and is walled in by a subdivision and retirement complexes. The homes around us have teeny tiny lots with gigantic homes planted in the center of them. Our old magnolia tree, alone, would take up most of one of their backyards. And that’s one of the joys of older gardens—they have room for plants to roam, grow, and flourish.
My creative heart definitely flourishes here, and I hope I’ve inspired you to appreciate anew your own garden space. To tend a garden is a gift, to tend a cottage garden is a joy.
Blessings ~ Wendy
About the Author:
Gardener/writer Wendy L. Macdonald has been gardening since childhood. Her favorite thing about gardening is fragrant old-fashioned flowers and fresh vegetables. When she’s not gardening she’s writing poetry and inspirational mystery/romances. You can learn more about her at http://greenlightlady.wordpress.com Her twitter and Facebook links are listed on her blog.
Catherine Castle 
Dear Catherine, thank you for having me for a guest today on your blog.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Wendy, thank you for sharing your lovely garden with us. The pictures are scrumptious!
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Oh what a fabulous house and garden! It’s just beautiful, full of perfect imperfection! 😊 When we bought our property about 30 years ago (!!) we bought it for the size of the garden. The house itself is very simple but was built on what used to be orchards. So there are about six houses, ours included, with lovely large gardens. All other properties around us have postage stamp sized gardens. And while I am appreciative of any garden I do recognise how fortunate we are. Thanks got the tour! 😊 xx
Thank you, Christine, for coming on the tour. I’m so glad to hear you also have the joy of a substantial garden. And you are right that small gardens are a gift too.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Beautiful garden! I love cottage gardens and I try to get that rambling effect in my garden….it’s heading towards spring here in Australia, so I’m looking forward to getting more plants in soon. Looking at your lovely photos, gives me lots of ideas and inspiration! Thank you. 🙂
Thank you, Janette. Enjoy your coming spring. It’s my favorite season since the former owner of our place planted so many spring flowering shrubs and trees.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Beautiful gardens with lovely private spaces. Lucky you. And thanks to the good care you give.
Thank you, Diane. We’ve been having a drought this year, so I’ve been spending extra time babying the thirstiest plants with hand watering.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Your photos are stunning! The first one, of the home, is magical. The whole property sounds magical, an oasis amid modernity. So wonderful that you have made beauty a priority in your life. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
Thank you, Cheryl. I love the word ‘oasis’. Our abundance of trees makes it feel like a cool respite on a hot summer day. I’ve always appreciated old gardens.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Beautiful, Wendy. I think you should open a B&B.
Thank you, Bill. Yes, I’ve been thinking a part-time B&B might happen during our future empty nest days. 🙂
just gorgeous Wendy!
Thank you, Linda. I enjoy photographing my garden more than weeding it. 😉
Wendy, when you open that B & B, I want to know about it! I love the Northwest, anyway, but have never visited Vancouver…how sad, eh? I agree w/everyone else, magical is the word for what you’ve created. Bravo!!
Thank you, Gail. I often daydream about having a B&B. If it’s the Lord’s will for it to happen, I’ll definitely let you and other writing and blog friends know about it. It has a high burnout rate, so I’d only tackle a part-time one.
Your home is lovely, Wendy!
Thank you, Shelli. I’m drawn to older homes.
Simply gorgeous, Wendy. Those scenes look like something out of a beautiful fairy tale. Inspirational!
Thank you, Jennifer. Inspirational—yes. 🙂 Since moving here we’ve all begun living more creative lives. Music lessons for the kids, writing for me, and woodworking for my husband.
Isn’t it wonderful what a change to your environment can do?
Indeed. It has surely been good for you too.
Your home reminds me of a Thomas Kinkade painting. Beautiful! Many people think of life in the “predictable and linear fashion.” I guess as I’ve aged I prefer not to see everything from a single point of reference, but instead I like to walk around and explore, finding hidden beauty where I never expected it to be.
Thank you, Gene. I like what you said about finding unexpected beauty. We’re told to think on “whatsoever things are lovely”, and we can easily miss them if we’re caught up in the need to control everything. I think your preference “to walk around and explore” is a wonderful way to walk. Blessings.
An absolutely delightful tour of your cottage garden, Wendy! Such a pretty landscape. 🙂 Love, Iris
Thank you, dear Iris. I would love to tour cottage gardens in Europe one day.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Wow Wendy what a beautiful garden, I can see how you would flourish in there. Such a stunning place to sit and appreciate nature.
Thank you, Kath. Spring and autumn are the best times of year in our garden. Blessings as you soon enjoy the arrival of spring where you live.
Wendy, what a beautiful place you have! I can see how it feeds your soul…so lush and inviting. Thank you for sharing this loveliness….
Thank you, Susan, for visiting my garden here on Catherine’s blog. The beautiful and sunny posts you share are soul food too. Blessings.