What a cute idea. Your lupines are very pretty, but to me it looks like the flowers in that drawing are foxgloves, (digitalis), which fit very well into a cottage garden and will give more height than lupines.

Those could be foxgloves, but in the opening credits they're not as tall and look like lupines. Or so my mom said...and I don't disagree with my mom about garden stuff! LOL

Also shows daisies and other flowers. Very good for a 3-D animation : )

I did not know that lupines could have different colored flowers, all on the same plant. That center one has pink, lavender-blue and purple/white flowers! They look a little more purple IRL.

I don't know the TV show you are referring to but if you look at Beatrix Potter's original illustrations they are definitely Foxgloves. Peter Rabbit, Mr Todd and all the rest of the characters are based on the wildlife of the English Lake District and there are absolutely no Lupins there outside gardens. Look at the flower bottom right in your picture. Clearly tubular flowers - so clearly not Lupins. Sorry, but your Mom is just wrong this time. I would really urge you to look at the originals. The pictures are stunningly beautiful and botanically accurate. Superior to any of the rip offs which have been made subsequently. One of the original illustrations from Jemima Puddleduck.

Those are beautiful lupines ! I have never seen them in person , I think maybe it's too hot down here.

my inspiration isn't that exciting. I look on Pinterest or Instagram . I do have a nice collection of books as well but since the Internet brings me so much more I sadly haven't pulled them out much .

i do know in my minds eye what I want the garden to look like . And that's overstuffed and exploding with pastel color ! ;)

Going out to Northland Rosarium to pick up our roses, today! Also have to find some for the kitchen garden. So excited to go see roses all afternoon : )

In case my pictures don't turn out....

Oh, another source of own-root roses! You are an enabler. For others, here is the link to Northland Rosarium.

My husband is British and his mother has the most spectacular garden which I soak in every time we go to England. Last time we were there we also went to see several public gardens including RHS Wisley and a beautiful little Physic garden in London. But his mother's gardens are to die for. Her hardscaping is just... wow as well. At her new house she's used plantings and this beautiful trellis to divide up her garden into "rooms." I'd pick the whole thing up and move it here if I could.

I'd turn my woods out back into Lothlorien from Lord of the Rings if I could. :)

I've lurked here quite a bit, but this question is fun enough to come out of "lurkdom."

I get that the flowers in the picture inspire you, whether they're lupines or foxgloves. They have similar form, so what does it matter? (Although I was wondering if lupines grow in the shade. My only experience with them here in Texas is with bluebonnets.)

I enjoy looking at the pictures people post here, and also on British tv shows. I've been watching Rosemary and Thyme (gorgeous gardens!), along with Doc Martin on Netflix, and have been surprised at the beautiful flowers and gardens in the background on that show.

I've also been known, when driving around town, to just stop when I pass a beautiful garden. I've started taking pictures of peoples' gardens around town. Not too many cottage gardens here, but there are a few.

Sally

Doc Martin does have some spectacular gardens!

What did you pick up at the nursery lavender lass ?

I scopped up two penesetum and 2 Veronica at lowes with mulch they had on sale . I really like the bell shape of the flowers!!

I think that my biggest inspiration for my garden was a neighbor growing up. She had beautiful mixed borders with perennials, flowering trees, and shrubs. However, I was terrified of her since she didn't like kids and would yell at me for even stopping on the sidewalk to look, so I looked from a distance or as we drove by or walking slowly as a came home from school. I also have a friend that I met when I was 10 whose parents also had mixed borders with roses and crabapples and grapes and perennials. I loved their gardens as well. My grandfather, who we visited in the summer, had a rural garden of old-fashioned cottage garden plants - Hydrangeas, poppies, peonies, iris, sweet peas, violas, asparagus, quince, roses, and an apple tree. There were many more, but those are what remain in my memory, and a few remain in my garden from divisions taken after they had both died and the house was up for sale.

My folks took us to the Holden Arboretum regularly and we often detoured through a cemetery with beautiful plantings, so much of what I saw trained my eye, even though I grew up in a house of non-gardeners.

Now I get a lot of my inspiration from gardens I visit (I love the Open Days sponsored by the Garden Conservancy and other open garden fundraisers), on line from blogs and here on GW, and from eye candy books from the library.

for OP Q, I get inspiration from: magazines (sometimes even real estate mags give me some ideas) pinterest (I pin a lot), books on gardening from library, I watched a whole bunch of Alan Titchmarsh shows which proved relaxing & inspirational. Also I visit (especially in Spring/Fall) my local garden centers & reserves near me. Driving around the "gardened" up areas also helps me.

For years I've done searches 'cottage garden' in the Houzz photo section. There are some awesome gardens there.

Lilyfinch,

You mentioned that you think your climate is too hot for lupine. Actually, they thrive in hot, sunny, sandy sites, and will not do well if they are not very well drained. They are a wonderful early spring bloom in sunny spots.

Martha

When I think of foxgloves, I think of nursery rhymes, old English stories of fairies and pixies. So that's my inspiration. Stories I read as a child.

My earliest inspiration was the book "The Secret Garden."

Martha

My inspiration came to me as a little girl when I learned about Laura Ashley (English) fabrics and home furnishings, and later her dreamy dresses. There was a Laura Ashley store in my town in CT growing up and I was in love with the floral patterns, the colors, the swatches, everything!! I re-did my room in Laura Ashley as a pre-teen and begged my mother to buy me a Laura Ashley dress for special occasions. To this day I enjoy her patterns and colourways. So, my early inspiration came mostly from looking at the advertisements associated with Laura Ashley products/books and photos of the English gardens. I also love Pinterest and will drool over printed and online catalogs that specialize in old-fashioned/cottage plants and roses. Always looking for amazing blogs too!

Enid Blyton, Adventures of Pip.. Makes me want to be surrounded by all the plants mentioned. Aesop's fables. Greek mythologies. Thumbelina (makes me think of being tiny in a world surrounded by giant grass and mushrooms). Heidi - (the hills filled with wild flowers). Fairy tales - like Rose White and Rose Red. 12 Dancing princesses.. etc...