A Summer Cottage Garden Party

Hello there and welcome :)

Before we start the tour of my cottage garden, be sure to grab some iced tea...

We're having a heat wave here in the Arizona mountains and the temperature is an unusual 98 degrees. The average is around 80 at this time of year, so it's HOT. 

Not Phoenix hot, but hot nonetheless.

At least for us ;)

Anyway, for those of you that don't know me, my cottage was built in 1930, which you can read more about 'here' and see the inside 'here'. When I moved in, the very evil last owners had let the yard go and everything was pretty much dead or dying.

Here's a picture, a couple of months after I moved in from Google Street View:

You can see more of my garden in different seasons and some of the progress here, here and here, but this is what it looks like today:

It's taken 4 years, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, to get it to this stage.

The tears were mostly from my bank account.

"cough"

Anywho...

I weeded (A LOT), planted roses and lavender in the front planters, put in new grass seed, had the sprinklers fixed,  and had the trees trimmed of their dead branches. I also planted another Elm tree, that you can see to the left, up above.

My roses are losing their blooms right now, but there's still a couple to enjoy...

Come on back up to the front porch...

Excuse us, Mr. Towhee :)

There's more tea, if you need a refill. 

I'll be sure to grab some more ice, if you need it :)

I just painted this pot rack red. It's holds my bird feeder, some plants, extra pots and birdseed.

For those of you that don't know what it looked like before, you can see it 'here' and even more of my garden from last month.

That sad little plant below is a daisy that I rescued from the front yard, after some animal tried to eat it.

Poor thing...

Off to the side I have a birdbath and some herbs growing.

Oh! I almost forgot to show you the inside of my turret...

It's a little space, but I think it's welcoming.

Well, kind of....

I guess it depends on who you are ;)

"Ahem"

Moving on to the side yard...

See that little plant at the bottom right?

That's my rosemary.

I'm proud to say that he's doing quite well, after two years :)

Around the corner, I have two side entrances.

Here's the one to my office/sewing room.

I just painted the railings and the doors not too long ago.

There's a lot more painting to do, like the window trim on the sides and back, and the house itself, but I'll get there eventually.

My home is always a work in progress, inside and out.

Aren't they all? ;)

Oops! Excuse us, Mr. Lizard!

Here's the door that leads into the mudroom, onto the kitchen, and the downstairs...

and this is the little garden outside my dining room window...

I just planted a Hosta there and I plan on getting at least one more, for the other side of that candle stick thingy, with a bird on it.

Thank you, Su, for that idea ;)

Across from this is another little garden with a birdbath.

It's the view I see every morning from my kitchen window.

I just planted some new flowers there this week and I can't wait until they fill in :)

Just past the side door is a little passageway to the backyard.

I'm just showing a peak, because it's still not ready for show and tell. 

Besides, it's getting hotter out here and this tour has gotten kinda long.

Now if you'll join me inside....

we can finally get out of this heat!

After you cool off, be sure to visit all the other participants on Brenda's Cottage Garden Tour:

The Cozy Little House

The Cottage Nest

Junk Chic Cottage

Aiken House and Gardens

Art and Sand

Butterfly & Bungalow

My 1929 Charmer

Golden Boys and Me

Blondie's Journal

Thank you so much Brenda!

And thank YOU so much for coming by. 

I truly enjoyed having you.

xo

rue