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Cottage Garden Sensations

© Barbara M. Martin

Dear reader, please note: Thank you for visiting my Cottage Garden topic and reading my columns, published here from February 1997 through spring 2003! I regret I am no longer actively editing or contributing to this suite101.com topic as of mid-2003. Happy Gardening! This Cottage Garden column was written by Barbara M. Martin and is Copyrighted by Barbara M. Martin. It may not be altered or copied or published elsewhere in whole or in part without specific permission from the author.

Cottage gardens are living, breathing spaces, always changing. How else could they be full of so many surprises? When a gardener starts to pack a space full of delights, who knows where the story will end!

Visitors of all ages enjoy a well-planted cottage garden. The garden appeals to all of our senses. The vibrant flowers feed our eyes with the vision of paradise. The wonderful textures caress our skin -- or can make us jump, when thorns snag. The scents and aromas envelop us too, fragrant blooms and savory herbs releasing their magic as we brush past them. Rustling foliage signals a soft breeze or a chipmunk on brave approach; we snatch greedily at ripe fruit and eat it right away standing there with juice on our fingers and chin (and shirt.) What could ever taste sweeter than a perfect, tiny tomato warmed by the sun? The garter snake senses our nearness and whisks out of sight, the wood chuck watches balefully from her den beneath the tool shed.

By high summer, it is hot. Dog days hot. Too hot to do much except watch the grass dry out and see how far down the ground will crack in the dry spell. We wear shorts and go barefoot, play cards on the shady screened porch and drink home-made lemonade, we feel sweaty by mid morning. The fluttery mimosa tree is in full, shimmering, tropical bloom; the pink puffballs hang motionless in the heat and we gaze idly at the hummingbirds and butterflies skimming the tree top. We are waiting for the melons to ripen, sweet and juicy, such an amazing pink inside. We think movie stars must eat these every day in Hollywood, these melons are so good. And so the drama unfolds.

Meanwhile, the butterflies and birds and small creatures who live here bring magic and energy, the hum of insects and whir of wings, the trills and squawks overhead, the tiny peep underfoot, the plop of the frog hopping suddenly into the pond. This is a living garden, a breathing garden, a place to find magic and feed your own creativity.

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