CARMEL’S COTTAGE GARDENS- It’s finally time to shop for flowers!
Now that the “bones” of our cottage garden are in place, we are ready to go shopping for flowers.
When you buy,think in terms of odd numbers 1,3,5,7 and try to mix flower shapes. I like to start with the tallest flowers first. It’s rather like casting a movie with the taller flowers as the STARS. On Carmel’s small lots these taller flowers might be planted in ones or in clusters of three.
Now we begin to add height with:
Agapanthus
Look how it calls attention to the gate at Hob Nob.
Acanthus -Bears Breeches
Works like an exclamation point to draw our eyes down the path toward the garden door.
Anemone
Standing on tall stems the graceful blooms flutter in the breezes.
Calla Lilly
A real attention getter, some gardeners plant these in the strip of earth outside the garden fence.
Cleome- Spider flower
A self-seeder, I love the way Mother Nature sprinkles it around the garden randomly. The seedlings are easy to pull it you don’t like where they land.
Centranthus
Loves Carmel’s sandy dry soil.
Cosmos
knocks your socks off in its vivid colors. Here it splashes its color around with carnations and two colors of Bougainvillea.
Crocosmia
Wow. Doesn’t it work well with the Agapanthus and mexican sage to emphasize the view through the gate?
Delphinium
Digitalis ( Foxglove) – a cottage garden favorite.
Here its vertical spires echo the vertical lines of a rustic tuteur.
Globe Allium
Lillium
and Lions Tail.
Maiden’s Wreath
is another graceful bloom to mix with some of the more rigid ones. It seems to do well with neglect.
Pride of Madeira
and Red Hot Poker
make bold statements.
while Surprise Lilly
and Verbena bonariensis
Once upon a time..Tales from Carmel by the Sea 
so beautiful…. do all these flowers bloom in winter where you live?
Gorgeous images!! Love the way you are laying it out for us in layers! I am going to be in your neck of the woods this weekend, I can hardly wait to see the ocean!!
Kathysue
A much appreciated sight on this wet dark day….a Lawrence blogger’s post prompted me to sprint out the the (former) vegetable garden to see if the hundreds of tulips I planted for cutting (and painting) had poked out like hers…and a few tiny little green horns have poked through the mulch.
Your agapanthus reminds me that people were always surprised when I mentioned that the famous photos of the little sidewalk where Nicole (Mrs. OJ) Simpson and the waiter died show masses of blue agapanthus lining both sides…
Losing more and more of those little white cells every day!
Beautiful – gives me lots of ideas – thank you
I had to scroll again and again because one look is not enough. All the flowers and photos are excellent. i am loving the Delphinium and Maiden’s Wreath today and looking forward to the best supporting actors.
beautiful inspiring