progress


Thank you all for taking the time and sharing your excellent ideas for my garden.  A little progress was made in the last few days.  I planted these little white vinca flowers in hopes that they will fill in this planter so that eventually no dirt will show.  Underneath them are the mums that were planted for the wedding 2 years ago so that will be cool if they can come up in between the vinca.






This is the the area that is under scrutiny.  It get hotter than blazes here in the late afternoon.  I want to remove the rock border and put a small hedge and then fill with iceberg roses and maybe herbs too?  Not sure.  But as you can see it looks awful as is.  It kills me each time I pull into the driveway.





Also, some of you are interested in A and B's store here in Redlands.  It's called Redlands Country Mart and the address is 1915 E. Citrus Avenue Redlands CA 92373.  I help out there when I can and I can't tell you how much fun it is.  Their prices are reasonable and they both have a great eye for amazing pieces.  This is one of the tee shirts they make, $28.  They make all the sweaters and tee's themselves right here in Redlands.  They ship worldwide too!  Also, these sunglasses are from the 1950's.  They have a few brand new (deadstock) pairs for $38 ea.  Please stop by if you are in the area for a great cup of coffee and a lookaround.  See their Instagram HERE xo

42 comments

  1. Full sun out in the front gardens of this small house in DFW area .... I can recommend rosemary (two types -- upright and spreading);lavender; artesmisia (Powis Castle or also called "gray mist"); thyme; parsley; various varieties of mint (contained in pots); chives. As for a favorite plant -- try the soft silvery-gray-green "Lambs Ears" ....

    Cheers! Jan at Rosemary Cottage

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    1. Thank you Jan. I love all those plants, esp lambs ear and artemesia. xo

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  2. Ugh....my yard is not doing well this year. Wish I had you here for advice! I just don't have a green thumb : (
    I'm not seeing a working website for Redlands Country Mart, and the link you gave went to Target. How do I order one of the white tees you wore in a couple of posts ago?

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    1. hi emily. i went back and edited the post to include their instagram. the perfect tees they sell are $14 plus shipping. we will get you a tee! email me with info and i'll get one sent out to you. :)

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  3. We have also had a hot, dry summer but I've loved it so! My son came over and we made fresh pesto and also a red tomato sauce yesterday with things we picked straight from my little garden. It sure does feel good to eat food you grew yourself!

    As always - I just love your blog and Instagram feel! xo Debbie (@missus_pearce)

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  5. Other great plants for gardens that bake in the sun and heat: common sage (salvia officinalis) -- gets pretty purple flowers and fabulous for cooking; and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) -- gets flowers that resemble lavender, but not useful for cooking. Both are (at least in my garden) quite drought tolerant. I have them planted in a south-facing bed, wedged in between my driveway and a fence, in horribly poor. Both are thriving.

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  6. Hi Janet- I don't have any garden advice as I kill absolutely everything. Perhaps one day when my girls are off on their own, I will seriously learn how to grow beautiful things! I love that photo of you in the tee shirt and flared jeans- you look very chic and cool. Will A & B sell any of their items online? Their style is so unique and interesting, I would definitely purchase vintage items from them.

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    1. yes, you can buy anything from them. if you are on instagram you can follow them there and contact them directly.

      you can follow them here
      https://www.instagram.com/redlandscountrymart/

      they will start posting things thru their instagram. if you are looking for anything particular, let me know and i can help. :) xo

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  7. You look cute in your flared jeans ('bell bottoms' we'd called them in the 'olden' days).

    Your hard work is paying off in the garden; love the surrounded urn.

    Janet, the guy who helps us periodically with our yard swears by boxwood as a hedge which you can clip at any height you want. My husband thinks boxwood is boring. Of course, another plant is plumbago which you can box over time although you wind up cutting off a lot of the blue blooms when so doing. That's our experience anyway. At our previous home, the little cottage, we had old-growth plumbago which was as tall as the roof. It's a great natural fence and so colorful. But when we started a new area with little cuttings, it took forever to get it going and growing. Like, YEARS.

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    1. my first choice was boxwood but i'm afraid it's too much direct sun and heat in the summer. i have lots of potted box but they are all in some shade during the day...so i just don't know. i love plumbago and that has been on my mind too. am now looking at tall ornamental grasses...lol

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    2. The only other thing I can think of for that space is succulents...and cactus. But cactus, despite your love of Joshua Tree, is...to me...so not 'you' in terms of the gardener's cottage. We bought some succulents a couple of years ago which are just crowding everything else out in the space...they just took over the little 'avenue' of other succulents. They spread gray-green, dense 'leaves' closer to the ground but they get these tall, waving dark pink flower-blooms...one bloom to a reed, if you can picture that (and those 'reeds' are so tall, easily four feet). We hardly ever water them. As usual, because we planted a lot of stuff at one time, I can't recall offhand what those succulents are called but they filled a space about like what you have in a fairly-quick period of time.

      What happened to that nice guy you profiled quite a long time ago here who was giving you gardening advice? Could you pick his brain a little? So many of your readers have mentioned salvia; we have a new one with the prettiest deep purple blossoms; it's in the hottest part of the yard (where we even killed a hardy hibiscus...south-facing front yard) and seems to be thriving over the past six weeks. Don't know its specifics; hubs lost the little tag that came with it. I think it's very possibly the "Black and Blue" (dark blue-purple tone rather than a red-purple); also, I think, quite common and easy to find in the garden centers. I should look it up but isn't it just ornamental sage? We've tried the ornamental grasses but I always thought they just looked like dry, straw-colored weeds most of the time; guess it clearly depends upon what type you can find out there...

      I'm looking forward to what you come up with!

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    3. oh vicki you must be talking about my friend Terry who was the head gardener at Kimberly Crest here in redlands. he had a stroke last year. i need to go visit him and see how he's doing. so sad.

      i'm not a big fan of the succulents for this garden but like i said we had really pretty ornamental grasses that were quite gorgeous. i loved the way they swayed in the wind and were great in cut arrangements for the house.

      soon as life slows a little i will get to the garden centers to check all these great suggestions out. xo

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    4. I'm thinking of the guy who had his own blog. If it's the same one, indeed how sad; I'm sorry.

      Swaying ornamental grasses as you describe sound nice!

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  8. WHY NOT WHITE LAVENDER in the HOT SPOT...............needs little water and should do well.BEES will VISIT however!

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    1. yes lavender is a seemingly good choice, that's what is there now. i need something that looks good all the time. either some evergreens or similar.

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  9. Can't wait to see what you come up with in your little hell patch. Does the black siding of the house make that spot even hotter?

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    1. def the black house and the black asphalt driveway are not helping the situation AT ALL. it is my hell patch. lol

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  10. In the hot area I would go with something that would give some shade and temper the heat. Maybe a lemon or crape myrtle tree in a pretty color under planted with herbs and sage?

    Maria

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    1. we thought of that too. like a dwarf variety but honestly we have so many trees here i lean towards not planting another one. but that does sound really really pretty. thank yoiu maria. xo

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  11. No advice regarding the garden, I'm afraid but you look wonderful and are rocking those jeans! xxx

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  12. You are rockin' those jeans and tee Janet!

    Some vinca that I planted last year grew so much I actually had to cut it back a little recently because it was hanging over onto our walkway. So hopefully yours will fill in. I think you made a great choice!

    My yard is such a sad state of affairs. We need to redo our lawn...either grass or ground cover. It's not a huge area. But there is no way I'm just going to let it die. And we can't just replace the area with shrubs or plants because no deep holes can be dug. We have a huge tree and hedges so digging too deep would kill the roots. We have a few homes in our neighborhood that have let their grass totally die, but at least replace it with SOMETHING!

    I went down in the back of our house this a.m. where there is a ton of jade growing. I was going to cut some to put in water (it keeps forever) but no dice. Most of them were shriveled from the drought and summer heat. :(

    Hope you find something to plant on the side there!

    Linda
    xo



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    1. thanks linda. we have that problem with planting too bc of all the tree roots around here. i will find something with all these great suggestions! xo looking forward to seeing you sometime in september!

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  13. Janet - I came back to say you look incredible and I hope you will consider doing a post on your fitness routine. Inquiring minds want to know! :)

    Maria

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  14. Nasturtiums always work for dry spots. Also, can you please relink the tee shirt? The existing link goes to target. You look so cool, and your son's shop sounds great. Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. thanks megs. i've tried to get rid of that link but i can't. they only have an instagram account right now. they are working on a website. let me know if i can help you with a purchase. xo

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  15. Love all your new posts!I wouldn't have considered myself a gardener until your blog and our move...since then I've enjoyed working with our roses..lavendar..and various flowers. We've enjoyed a little vegetable garden..making fresh salsa..simple salads..green fried tomatoes..I have brought stems of plants inside too for decor like you taught..i plan on taking my lavender (like last year)..and drying them upside down and maybe making simple sachets for holiday gifts..who knew? Thanks to your gardeners cottage

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  16. Love the sunglasses and the flared jeans - and hope you're well x

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  17. What about Dwarf Korean Lilacs or some grafted ones. They offer a beautiful color and a heady scent in the spring and provide the green throughout the summer months for any additional plants you may add. Against the black of your home they would be striking. On another note I just heard this yesterday: https://youtu.be/CUKcChH7sbo. It's your boy JW.

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  18. Hey Janet, you might want to consider Little Giant dwarf Arborvitae for your border. It's a very slow growing evergreen that requires full sun. It will need watering until it's established but then it's pretty much happy on its own. It makes a lovely border. I bought some that were about 7 inches tall from lowes that cost me about $4.00 each and outlined a bed with them. They've made it through three blazing summers and two polar vortex winters and are going strong. I filled the interior of the bed with may night salvia as it is also carefree and perennial.you could try salvia swan lake which is absolutely beautiful and would be a nice foil to your iceberg roses. I'm sure whatever you decide, it will stunning.

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  19. For sure rosemary. I have over 300 rosemary and lavender plants in full sun, here in Italy. Thanks Janet, for blogging. I love every topic, have read and reread every post.

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  20. Love the story of your garden (not much point me commenting, as we're into Spring!) but enjoying your garden all the same - and you look fabulous in those jeans, T shirt and groovy glasses! xx

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  21. Always a treat to visit here with you, you expose every raw dislike and never candy coat anything that you don't believe in.
    I love the start of your garden, and the dislike I'm your driveway view of what is not as pleasing to you.
    I love the personality of a mature home and it's landing areas of what it inspires next.
    I know all the hardworking and beauty you have added to your cottage, and the upgrading you have done, I so could see a gravel driveway here along side your homes side entrance, the sandy granite sand and Sandy pea gravel keeping the heat down for the black top and adding to the European style of your amazing style.... Your garden can take over with more drought control shrubs and garden cement statuary and urns.
    Love your style dear you inspire so much here with all the little changes and fashion forward with so much fun to it.

    Xx
    Dore

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    1. oh dore if you knew how much i wanted a decomposed granite driveway! i'd love one or pea gravel but for one it's too expensive a project for me and another is i'd worry about the drainage and the basement flooding. but omgosh how i'd love one. you have a good eye my dear!

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  22. Did you know Ellie of the blog have some decorum passed away?

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  23. Sedum is an idea. It is a perennial and easy to grow. It thrives in sunshine and poor soil. A mature plant will grow to be 24" in height & width. It attracts hummingbirds, butterflies & bumblebees. It blooms from Aug. - Nov. Check it out. -Maggie

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    1. oh i love sedum! i have some growing elsewhere in the garden. thanks maggie. x

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  24. I can't believe the wedding was 2 years ago already. How does that happen? I also wish I could visit their store - that's the kind of shop my dreams are made of.
    xo

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kindness is never out of style.

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