I have always aspired to have a cottage garden, although I couldn’t even tell you what a cottage garden is, exactly. Does it require proximity to an actual cottage? Or a white picket fence, at least? Does it only exist in the British Isles? I’m not sure, but I know one when I see it. My house is a one-story 1950s mid-century modern. My fence is chain link. My garden is not a cottage garden. But I continue to dream.
To my mind, hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are the ultimate cottage garden plant. They remind me of girls’ bonnets in the illustrations of Victorian artist Kate Greenaway. A couple of summers ago, I bought a small hollyhock plant on sale at a local nursery. The plant’s label claimed that it was a “true perennial” hollyhock. I took that to mean that it was different from the biennial variety.
Here I must digress. I have been confused over the years by the difference between certain perennial and biennial flowers, including foxgloves and hollyhocks. Judging from the flood of questions about perennial vs. biennial hollyhocks I discovered online, it seems I’m not alone. Here is an explanation from the National Gardeners Association website that sheds some light on the question of whether hollyhocks are perennial or biennial: “The answer to your question is ‘it depends.’ Some strains of hollyhocks exhibit more pronounced perennial tendencies while others are predominantly biennial. Individual plants will also vary in performance according to their individual characteristics due to seed variation as well as their growing conditions. In some cases, there are so many seedlings every year that the hollyhocks seem to be perennial when in fact it is a number of successive plants in a patch together. Mature hollyhocks are nearly impossible to transplant, but seedlings can be moved if it is done with care.”
Anyway, I stuck my hollyhock in the ground in the sunniest place in the yard, which happens to be against a wooden lattice enclosure that shields from view an above-ground propane tank. Nothing happened that year except that the plant didn’t die. One cheer. The next year, it grew to be about three feet tall and had a couple of pale pink blossoms. The plant seemed to be a true perennial, as promised. That was good enough for me. Two cheers.
This year, my garden, like everyone else’s, is growing like it’s on steroids. The hollyhock is now over six feet tall and I have tied it to the fence to keep it from flopping over. It is covered with heavenly flowers and lots of swelling buds that promise a long blooming period. Keeping the hollyhock company are a sweet pea vine and a couple of clematis, dark purple and lavender, that have struggled along the past few years but are thriving this summer. In front of the lattice, in an area about eight feet by three feet, I have planted herbs and a variety of annuals including cosmos and nasturtiums. Behind the lattice is a patch of volunteer daylilies whose orange flowers poke through the lattice here and there.
When I went out this morning to admire the hollyhock, it struck me that the hodge-podge of plants out there looks kind of like a cottage garden. Whatever that means. I might need to buy a straw hat and a proper wooden trug.
Mickey Rathbun, an Amherst-based lawyer turned journalist, has written the Get Growing column since 2016.
Take some time out next weekend to restore your passion for gardening by looking at botanical illustrations from the library of Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston. Tower Hill’s librarian will be showing beautiful and historic works from Tower Hill’s vault and discussing the fascinating history of botanical illustration. There will be class sessions from 11 a.m. to noon on July 20 and 21. Class limit 10 per session. The fee is included with admission, but pre-registration is requested. For more information and to register, go to towerhillbg.org
Local blueberry farms are opening their gates for blueberry picking. There are lots of places in the area including the family-friendly Birdhaven Blueberry Farm in Southampton. Blueberry picking is the perfect summer activity for children. Unlike strawberries, which require stooping and searching, blueberries are easy for even the youngest pickers. It’s instant gratification. In my experience, even if you eat as many berries as you can on the way home, you will still have boatloads left. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing just-picked berries transformed into a lumpy puddle of intensely purple sweetness under a crust, crisp or cobbler topping. Summer berries are why God invented vanilla ice cream.