Cottage Gardening

Cottage gardens and other great gardening ideas

Humming Bird Feeder – Vintage Glass Look

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Red Hummingbird Feeder

I wanted to show you this great new humming bird feeder that I picked up at my local Walmart for $9.95!

The reason it caught my eye (besides the fact that it was deep red – my favorite color… for now ;), was because I thought that it was a thick red wine bottle that had been made into a humming bird feeder. It reminded me of some of the other thick bubble glass that some of my other garden features are made out of.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was actually plastic!

It has the look of a vintage wine bottle with a cork. At first, you might think about how hard it would be to keep the feeder filled after you take out the cork, but you actually unscrew the bottom of the feeder, turn it upside down, fill it, then turn it right side up – (after you put the bottom back on of course :).

Both the hanger & the bottom of the feeder are made out of metal, both of which help add to that vintage feel.

Peach Begonia

I purchased this feeder a week or so ago, but while I was working in the office today, I saw a little humming bird come up to the window. He was trying to get to the beautiful begonia flowers that a friend had given me (he must have been spying on me through the window :). So… I figured it was finally time to share the pretty red “vintage looking” feeder with him – and not just keep it all to myself 😉

If you get a chance, go check out the garden center at your local Walmart… maybe you can find one for your cottage garden!

Gardening – Fill Your Cottage Gardens With Free Plants!

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Foxglove in the Cottage Garden

I love to dream – and one of the things that I love to dream about is my cottage garden. I pull out back issues of my favorite magazines, gardening books, and seed catalogues to add to the plethora of ideas already stored in my mind’s eye. There is one small problem however. When you start shopping at the garden centers & from all of the plant catalogues, you start to see a growing trend – all of these beautiful plants add up to lots of money!

I need to be honest with you for a second. You see, I’m not really good at waiting several years to add a plant here & a plant there to my garden. I’m the kind of person who sees something beautiful, then tries to find a way to make it happen in my own garden. Sometimes the ideas work out wonderfully, and sometimes I learn a lesson from the whole process. In any case, my garden is always better because of it.

We all live such busy lives, and we do our best to have our obligations taken care of. Sometimes, despite all of our work & effort, we just don’t have the extra amount of money that it would take to have the garden of our dreams. I know that feeling personally, and that’s why I wanted to take this time to share with you some of the ideas that I have discovered for finding free plants over the years. Soon, with a little bit of creative thinking, you’ll have to start giving plants away due to lack of any more space in your garden!

I’ve posted the full article in my article bank due to length – read it here:

Gardening – Fill Your Cottage Gardens With Free Plants!

Winter Snow in Upstate NY

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Winter Snow

As you’ve probably heard all over the news, we’ve been getting more than our share of snow over the last few days here in Upstate, NY. We are VERY used to getting snow (and lots of it), but this year has been very mild with almost no snow until last week. Then… it all started coming in at once! We’ve been getting a couple ft of snow every day!

Here in the picture, you can see my husband trying plow out our country lane. My goal is to have a large tractor for this job next year 🙂

Cactus – Pink Flowers of the Thanksgiving Cactus

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cactus - pink flowers

Pink Flowers to brighten your day!

When all the leaves have fallen, and you know that snow is around the corner, there’s nothing better than beautiful blooms to give you a quick pick-me-up!

I have several different cactus (or cacti) around my home, and even though most of the year they just sit there with their normal looking green leaves, there are those special times when they put on their best & give us a spectacular show that lasts for several weeks!

Here is a picture of one of the flowers from a Thanksgiving cactus that sits on my kitchen window sill.

It still amazes me to know that these little “plain jane” house plants have this big beautiful show inside – just waiting to burst forth at just the right time 🙂

This reminds me of many people that I know. So many are full of so much potential, but need the right conditions before they can release the best that’s still waiting on the inside to come out. This plant will only bloom under particular conditions;
* Sunshine – I think this represents the joy in your life, are you lacking this essential element? When was the last time that you felt joy – just by the fact that you have been given another day to live?
* Water – Water represents life – refreshment for our soul
* Food – Just the right kind & not to much or the plant will die – what are you feeding yourself? What are you allowing to “fill” your time, thoughts, and energy?

Maybe today you could take moment to evaluate what you allow to fill your life, maybe you need some different conditions, so that you can burst forth into beauty, not only for yourself, but for all of those around you to enjoy!


I have 3 different colors of Thanksgiving cactus sitting on my window sill. Here you can see the pink flowers, as well as the yellow flowers of the cactus.

The Forest is in Bloom!

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Autumn leaves turning red

Even though the arrival of fall means that the cold winter months are soon to follow, every year I still find myself looking forward to the time of year when everything around us seems to transform into something altogether new. Like a butterfly coming out of it’s cocoon, it seems like an instant when we wake up one morning, only to find that the trees surrounding the cottage have burst forth into what seems like colorful blooms!

Thankfully, our region is surrounded by sugar maple trees, which never fail to give us a beautiful display of fall color each year.

Here a few trees are changing color along the edge of our drive.
fall color

Our area (Northeastern US) is famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside. Here we enjoy a color pallet of reds, golds, oranges, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands.

Did you know that the US Forest Service actually planted the 100 plus scenic byways specifically with the autumn color show in mind? There are 31 states that are planted with over 3,000 miles of scenic drive!

You never really know when the color display will begin, but in our area, we’ve come to expect a few leaves to start showing their true colors around the end of August.

Something you may have never heard about!

The USDA Forestry Service actually has a free hotline phone number that you can call to see how the fall color is in any area of the country! This might come in very handy for those who are planning to take a long drive in the country to see the fall foliage.

Fall Color Hotline: 1-800-354-4595

I called today & found out that our area is supposedly at 15% peek color.

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Doing some Fall jobs around the house? Here’s a handy tip
When you have to stop painting & you’re not done with the job – put the roller in a pringles can & put it in the freezer. When you’re ready to start painting again – it will be ready for you!

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“The contented person is never poor; the discontented person is never rich”