That was a good article. I urge everybody to sign up for the email newsletter; every month something interesting.

The only thing with which I found fault in the feature was her statement, "also planted old-fashioned HallÂs honeysuckle vine (Lonicera japon­ica ÂHallianaÂ, Zones 4Â10) for the fragrance it offers through the bedroom window as it climbs the porch."

Hall's Honeysuckle is a tenacious exotic pest that quickly covers ground, shrubs, everything. It's only redeeming quality is that deer seem to like it and keep it trimmed back here along woods edge. Despite the efforts of the deer, birds planted it in my front yard and it is creeping underground as the mower rolls over it.

When I googled, a well known nursery has this on their website"Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' (Japanese Honeysuckle) - This selection differs from the species by the divided upper lip of the white flowers (appearing spring through fall) that change to apricot color with age. It is a very vigorous vine or groundcover that will quickly cover large areas - as much as 30 feet. It benefits from pruning and thinning. Give same growing requirements as the species. It is hardy to below 15 degrees F. The description above is based on our research and observations of this plant growing in our nursery and garden. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has additional information or disagrees with what we have written."

The wild species here has the divided lip AND the old flowers are the same "apricot with age" color as their photo. I hope nobody falls for this hype for a pernicious pest that does smell good. There are honeysuckles that are well behaved and would be preferable.

My, I did run on, didn't I? Some of the numbered points in her article would make good starting points for threads here, with photos of examples.
Nell

That was a nice article!! Thanks for sharing. I could look at photos of cottage gardens all day long
:)

I agree with Nell on the honeysuckle issue. I read a magazine article several years ago that encouraged planting purple loosestrife near your pond. Another pernicious non-native invasive plant, it will quickly spread and choke out more fragile native species, destroying natural habitats of North American fauna. People who write articles that catch the readers interest and imagination are not always educated on plants enough to advise within the articles as to which ones are invasive pests. Their job is really to just write a pretty essay.

Thanks for sharing the article. Ian Adams was the photographer. Check out his site if you would like to see more great outdoor/garden photography. He's one of the best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ian Adams Enviornmental/Garden Photographer

Thanks!
Great article and images.
Looks like my yard...some see it as messy, the plants spilling over into the paths and seedlings allowed to grow wherever they choose, well, almost. It is actually hard work tending my gardens even though it looks like it is carefree.

The ponds....that is what I am going for...natural ponds with no pumps, no filters & etc. My Grannie's fishpond didn't have any of those new-fangled things and her fish thrived and the lily's were lovely.

Great article.

~ sweetannie4u

Thanks for sharing this with us Patti, yesterday I spent the day weeding the Daylily beds out front, today I woke up to snow and it continued off and on for a good part of the day. HEY, I thought it was supposed to be Spring already. It was so cold I wanted to curl up with a good book and hot chocolate. They say we might have more snow tonight but then it's suppose to warm up a bit, I HOPE!!! I really enjoyed the article it helped shoo the blues I mean cold away.

Annette

Wow..great article and gorgeous photos. Like sweetannie, I love the lushness of the plants spilling over unto the paths and the variety of colors used. Love the stone wall, too!

Thanks for sharing the article, patti!

Marilyn

My pond is completely pump free and filter free I fill it with oxygenater plants and water lillys.My Fantail Gold fish thrive in it.
Oxygenator plants come with there own supply of fresh water Snail eggs and i do not mind that because they do a great job of cleaning up all the unwanted muck that settles on the bottom.
Last year I had a Heron come down into my garden and he feasted on my Fish so I grabbed him and tied a knot in his neck he wont swollow any more of me Fish? (only joking) I went and purchased a decoy Heron which seems to work the only problem is that you have to keep moving the thing around the garden or the real Heron will suss it out.so far my plastic Heron has been on top of me shed standing in me lupins. All round me Lawn.I stuck him on the roof once but the Caretaker insisted I took it down or he would tell me landlord?

FG has now started including a little blurb in each magazine to point out invasive species that might be mentioned in the issue. I doubt the online articles have that information attached.

The Heron that fishes from us has had the audacity to sit on top of our chimney and look down on me sitting on the bench! They look so prehistoric, don't they?

My garden is now maturing enough to get the spillover going along the pathways. I love the look! Prostrate rosemary is a good one as it's evergreen (for me). Nepeta is good, but you've got to watch for the bees. My lavender is spilling over now.

Cameron

Yes, nice article on flowers. For STRUCTURES suitable for cottage gardens, such as fences, gates, supports, trellises, etc, you may also be interested in the Spring 08 issue of Garden Ideas magazine. Lots of ideas.

Love the article as well. I thought the use of ponds was particularly inspiring, as I don't have any experience with water features in my garden.

That article was good for the more American-style cottage gardening. I enjoyed it anyway. The photos in the article are lovely - puts me in mind of the old-time cottage gardens and that is the kind of garden I like best.

I signed up for the News Letter (e-mails), but am going to unsubscribe. Nothing I have received thus far has been really what I am interested in seeing or reading about. I saved the website to my favorites and can go have a look see when I chose to do so. Don't want my mail folders all cluttered up, thank you very much!

I was very interested in the natural pond they showed in the article but there was no specific information given to help others create similar gardens or natural style ponds.

lupin,

Do you have any photos of your fish pond? I am digging my pond bigger and deeper this year in hopes of that making it more difficult for predators to get at my fish! The new liner has been ordered, but I do not want to have to mess with a filter or pump like I had before. Yes, pond plants are the very thing to have, but the problem here in the States is that many of those plants are now on the "Noxious plant list" and there are laws prohibiting selling them. I found several wild water runs that had some wonderful water plants, like Parrot Fern, Marsh Marigolds, and Water Hyacinths, to name just a few, but those water ways have since been sprayed with an herbicide to kill out all the beautiful water plants because they have been labeled invasive and noxious! It is hard to find the hardy water plants. The ones I bought 2 years back didn't even last through one winter here in Oklahoma. I do have three hardy water lilies that I keep in a half whiskey barrel (keg) until I get my pond back up and going again.

I don't have a heron problem because I have an English Shepherd and a Standard Sable Collie and a lot of kitty cats that patrol the property during the daylight hours. :) No intelligent heron would dare set foot on my property! It was those blasted sneaky raccoons that robbed me of all my beautiful fish over a period of 2 years! They sneaked into the yard in the wee hours of the morning and helped themselves. The last time they came, I lost over 120 fish and some were more than a foot (30.48 centimeters) long. I was just sick. The raccoons came in a group of five little bandits and tore the pond apart getting at the fish, the rotten little buggers!

We're having severe storms tonight. There have been several tornadoes sited within a few miles of here. Our weather radio alarm has been coming on every few minutes since late this afternoon. I'd like to just shut it off for the night, but living out here in the country it really helps to have some kind of early weather alert system. I need to go catch some sleep while I can.

~ sweetannie4u

We had an issue w/raccons getting in our sweet corn. We took a radio, wrapped it in plastic and let it play all night and it kept them out - but I live in the country and was able to do that w/out anyone complaining. That is the only way we were able to keep them away

Good info. A keeper.

Thanks