May walk thru the Cottage Garden

One of the joys of a cottage garden is that it is never the same year to year. Plants that reseed often end up in unexpected places. My foxgloves that were at the south end of the garden are now at the north end. They also are more like the wild species being quite a bit smaller.
One of the joys of growing Columbine is they tend to cross pollinate and what was one plant can be several dozen within 2 or 3 years. The colors surprise me each season. Last year I planted a purple one just to see what color I will get.
One mixed color hollyhock plant 4 years ago is now many plants at the rear of the garden and gives a spectacular July show.

Below are my first photos of the season. What is blooming now are just starting to show the full glory I will get this week.

As some of you who do follow my blog, you know that I blog more in the summer months because I love to show off my ever changing cottage garden and outdoor decorating. I have several trash to treasure garden and home decor projects waiting in the wings to be completed. Being from the Pacific Northwest, spring and summer is my favorite time of year--you could say 

"I am in my element"

Late spring in the cottage garden

The first flowers of the cottage garden make living thru the dismal grey rainy winters of the Pacific Northwest all worth it. When I was growing up I used to hear the adults say this is "God's country" but I thought to myself that there is so many other beautiful places on this planet, why would one say that? I came to realize as I got older that the reason Oregon natives called this slice of earth "God's Country" was because of the rewards springs holds for us putting up with dismal winter months.

So here is the first tour of my cottage garden of the season. What is so unique about a cottage garden is that it never looks the same year to year with so many surprises.

When I mulched this spring I was able to get "mushroom compost" from a local Organic Mushroom farm. Very different in texture as it has a sawdust base, and the color is light brown rather than black as other compost mulches. But mushroom compost is supposed to be the ultimate for vegetable and flower gardening as well as highly regarded by landscapers as a base for sod. So that will be a later post on how well it does for me.

I no longer have any pink columbine, they have cross polinated with the yellow with this interesting combination. 

The lupines have reverted back to the non-hybrid colors and are reseeding freely like the those in the wild

This is the really "green" part of the warm season. This is the view from my house. Large fields of young wheat against the foothills of the Cascade mountains.

By August these fields will be completely gold in color