A Rose Covered Cottage, Waterdown Ontario

Known locally as the "Griffin Stone Cottage," this Regency styled stone cottage in Waterdown, Ontario was built sometime between 1840 and 1849. The property was originally owned by Ebenezer Griffin, often referred to as the "father" of the small town of Waterdown. Ebenezer and his brother Absalom established a small industrial empire along Grindstone Creek with the establishment of a flour mill, ashery, carding mill, sawmill, and general store.

If there was a recipe for a cottage garden, I think romantic flowers like roses, hollyhocks, delphinium and lavender would definitely be on the list of ingredients. Such a recipe would also call for a dash of colorful annuals to fill in window boxes and containers. Finally to add a bit of spice, a cottage garden recipe would suggest that you stir in of few whimsical touches such as a birdbath, a classical statue or a decorative stone bench.

In the town of Waterdown, Ontario, Sharon Roberts and her husband have mixed up a pretty courtyard garden at the front of their historic cottage. A wrought iron fence with posts toped with decorative acorns frames the small front yard beautifully. The courtyard is intersected with flagstone paths and filled with a combination of roses, annuals and perennials.

When we happened upon Griffin Cottage in late June, the climbing rose that covers the front of the small stone house was just finishing flowering. 

Tiny pink 'Fairy' roses were blooming all along the fence.

Delphinium 

Lavender was growing just inside the wrought iron gate.

A climbing hydrangea covers the side of the cottage on the left. The charming gate to the back garden can be seen in the photograph on the right.

Red begonias hang in baskets by the side door.

Nasturtiums

A small water feature hangs on the stone wall of the cottage near the back gate.

Pale yellow hollyhocks grace the side of the house.Today, I am going to link up to Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time. To see other great gardens please click the link.

Roses & Roses that don't Look like Roses

Ironically, as we head towards the hottest part of summer, there was a definite chill in the air at dawn this morning. I hate to the 'f' word, but with the nip in the air, it felt like fall. I am sure when a cloud of humidity descends over the city in the middle of July and settles in for a few weeks stay, this cool early morning will seem like a distant oasis from the relentless heat. 

The light was wonderfully golden this morning. As we took our morning stroll, the dogs and I disturbed the big brown mosquitoes from their resting places. I swear these retched vampires are the size of small birds! At least you can see them coming and feel them landing.

In the garden, there is a general changing of the guard. The last of the peonies have finished and the soft pink spirea have faded to a deep tan color. Roses have stepped into fill the void. The hostas have hoisted their mid-summer flags and the deep pink spirea are filling in nicely for their pale pink cousins.

'Graham Thomas' here and in the opening shot.

The deep pink spirea

In the front garden, there is red Monarda with their crazy mop heads.

The evening primrose is still going strong.

 At the side of the house there are big white daisies...

and little white daisies (Feverfew).

There is also a tiny Moonbeam coreopsis in flower.

Along the front of the picket fence, the 'Fairy' is beginning her magic.

Keeping the 'Fairy' company, are a few roses that look more like apple blossoms than standard roses. This is the Musk rose 'Robin Hood'.

There is also the Polyantha shrub rose called "Marjorie Fair'.

A "clearance" clematis hangs down over the picket fence.

Just inside the picket fence is this little soldier 'Vigorosa Raspberry'.

My favourite is still got to be the 'Mary Rose'. 

And you can't beat this workhorse. Canadian Explorer series rose 'John Cabot'. 

The back garden is quieter. There is too much shade for it ever to be a riot of blooms.

Still, there are more subtle forms of beauty worth taking a moment to appreciate.

 The work of the new veggie beds is almost complete. This is a project that 

seems to have dragged on forever!

Hopefully soon, there will be more zucchini than I know what to do with. More about that later...

'Carefree Beauty'

For today, I end on a rosie note.

Today I am going to link to the Creative Exchange and later in the week to Cottage Floral Thursday at Fishtail Cottage. To see other great posts, simply click the links.

What makes a garden Great?

It's garden tour season again!

A few weeks ago we went on a tour that took us in to the backyards of some million dollar homes. Here were gardeners who had extensive funds, professional designers, and a team of landscape prefessionals for regular maintenance all available to them. I was prepared to be amazed. Instead, I headed home profoundly disappointed.

Frankly, the design of these gardens seemed slick and a bit self-concscious. If I can make an analogy, it rather like a homeowner who sent their interior designer to a single store and directed them to buy all the best furniture that store had on offer. Sure the decorated rooms would contain only the best, but there would be be nothing collected over the years, nothing personal, or for that matter unique.

This past weekend, I dragged my poor husband along on yet another tour. A few of the gardens on this second tour were terrific.

So, here is the question I have been mulling over in my mind ever since: What makes a garden great?

I think number one on my list of assets would have to be creativity. I don't know about you, but I really appreciate when a garden is original and imaginative.

Next on my list of attributes would be a great design/layout. This is where I think so many gardens fall a bit short.

What is my number one design pet peeve? It is what I will coin "fringe thinking". In a typical garden of this kind, the garden is a thin ribbon around the perimeter of the yard and the lawn is the black hole in the middle.  If I can make another analogy, it is the equivalent of taking a room and pushing all the furniture up against the wall.

The boundry between garden and lawn is usually a precise line of edging. My own garden is like this at the moment. In the future, I would like to blur the edge of the "garden" and create a more unified, seamless space.

The third characteristic on my list of what makes a great garden would be creative use of plant materials. It is wonderful when a gardener mixes leaf textures and colors to create a rich and varied tapestry.

Does a great garden need lots of flowers?

Not necessarily. 

Flowers can actually hog the stage and overshadow the supporting players. Still, nothing can take your breath away like a beautiful bloom!

I just love when a garden speaks to the personality of the gardener who created it. 

What inspires you?

What do you think makes a garden great?