Non gardeners commenting on my garden

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

My garden is a glorious cottagey tangle of foliage and flowers. It does not just happen; it requires careful plant selection and regular pottering/deadheading/snipping back. But it is my pride and joy, my main creative outlet and, at this time of year, is looking to my eyes, quite breathtaking.

So far this week, various friends and family, none of whom know anything about gardening beyond occasionally planting assorted garish bedding in regimented rows, have commented;

"Of course your sort of garden is just low maintenance, for people who don't like gardening."
"It needs a good hacking back and clearing out doesn't it?"
"Well it's a bit of a jungle, you can't even see any soil."

Obviously everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I would never be so rude as to criticise their pathetic gardening by numbers efforts.

I also have a cottage garden, with some untended bits, and lots of weeds- partly as I am allergic to wasp stings and so can't just wade into the borders to pull out sticky weed/bindweed/nettles in case I tread on a nest. My (nice) friend calls it my "beautiful wilderness", but others seem to think I just leave it alone , when, like yours op, it takes masses of work to be even in the messy state it is now. Still I do love it, it smells of mint and roses at the moment, with sweet william wafting through, and my alliums look lovely even though the huge balls have shrunk-why is this? Anyone know? They were massive last year and are about half the size now, and they were so expensive!

Oh, and if anyone is coming to Pembrokeshire this Summer, visit here www.dyffrynfernant.co.uk as it is the most beautiful garden i have ever seen, complete heaven.

These were taken about a fortnight ago to send to my Mum. She responded "Goodness, it's looking a bit wild". Thanks Mum.

very nice tinkly

tinkly that is lovely, absolutely dreamy.

What is the tall plant with the serrated leaves at the left of the first picture, next to the purple flowers (aquilegias?)? it looks a bit like melianthus?

I love aquilegia and ferns together, it reminds me a bit of a norwegian forest meadow.

This is one of my most favourite flowers, do you recognize it?

My garden used to be very easy and low maintenance, with evergreens and bamboo. I ripped it all out (almost, but left my winter-flowering camellias) and started a fresh, and I am working towards a garden with various spring bulbs, aquilegia, ferns, ladys mantle, primulas and primroses, lavender, geranium, sedum, poppies, oriental papaver, hollyhock, delphinium, trollus, with roses and rhododendrons, in a merry mess. I want colour.

White borage!

That garden is wonderful tinkly Dreamy planting.

geranium phaeum quintessential one of the many varieties

It is an artichoke Traviata. That area used to be my veggie patch. Now the artichoke re emerges every year amongst my flowers. The garden is a bit more interesting now; geraniums and lupins have emerged in the last two weeks.

thanks funnyperson. They grow everywhere in the mountains back home, and I would love to plant them in my garden.

I quite liked the photos. less is more and all that. grasses very trendy.

geraniums at crocus. they have a sale on this weekend at their nursery
www.crocus.co.uk/search/_/search.geranium/sort.0/

It's beautiful. That is how I would like my dream garden

My garden looks very similar, will try and get some pics to post tomorrow.

Lovely photos, like the height of all the plants, and is that a secret path leading off the decking...

Thanks for the tip funnyperson. My basket ended up costing me £200 last night, and not just Geraniums!

Thank Destiny my basket was empty this morning.

Lovely garden, tinkly.

Isn't that funny - I guess it just shows how styles and attitudes to gardens and the environment have changed.

I have to admit that after your posts I opened the photos expecting to see something needing a little bit of extra tending (in the nicest possible way) but instead it's perfect.

For those of you talking about winter colour, have you ever read Margery Fish's book 'A Flower for Every Day'? Classic 1950s book, I think, about how she had something flowering in her wonderful cottage garden every day of the year.

She responded "Goodness, it's looking a bit wild".

Yes mum, that's the idea

your garden is what i'm working towards, albeit on a much smaller scale within my teeny garden, so it will be in proportion to that

we only moved in a few months ago - it's going to take YEARS for me to get it how i want it

Quintissential I never buy anything from crocus. I just mentioned it because they had a good selection of the geranium species plants you like, and they had some sort of open day sale on in their nursery, though in previous years even the crocus sale was more expensive than other normal places. Anyway apparently they grow the plants for the Chelsea flower show gardens (which is why the planting can often look a bit samey) and sell off the ones that didn't go in the gardens on their open days at a 'reduced price' which in practice means about a fiver for a 2 litre pot of whatever.

I have bought the odd thing from Crocus (because there aren't any proper nurseries near us). I have to say I found the plants to be a really good size, very well grown and vigorous, and well wrapped for postage. On the one occasion something arrived a bit damaged, they refunded without any quibble whatsoever.