Please do not misconstrue the following sentence… I have been utilising Mr M and his thing-a-me-jig again. That is to say, once he had read last week’s post it was full steam ahead to create a wooden obelisk. “No, no, pallets won’t work” he insisted “I need to use 2×4’s.” We have more than our fair share of 2×4’s apparently and so off he went in search of them stating quite clearly for the record “I’ll make it and you paint it.” After the epic collapse of yellow daisies, you read about last week, there were a great many gaps to fill in the Cottage Garden. So, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth and armed with a few money off vouchers I headed to the garden centre and left Mr M and his thing-a-me-jig to it…
First though, I promised a peek at the lavender and sweetpeas, since they don’t feature in the Cottage Garden so you may not have seen their success this summer. The little lavender hedge I am cultivating is in the kitchen garden which has been greatly neglected this year and I hope will be a star next summer. The lavender though has not let me down. And the sweetpeas have been a huge success this year, despite starting late. Next year they will grace the Cottage Garden and precisely where will become more apparent, as you read on. Both lavender and sweetpeas play an important part in late summer crafts around here… more of that in a later summer post.
And so back to today’s post. My visit to our local garden centre could not have been timelier. A huge sale on some rather fancy flora was taking place. I purchased two gorgeous red bush roses – Royal William which promise a ‘good fragrance’ at the bargain price of £4 each, two hydrangea Limelight on a BOGOF offer, and a spirea – Crispa in a brilliant pink reduced from £32 to just £8. And by making use of my coupons the spontaneous visit came to just £28.75. Where I can I like my flowers and plants to work overtime. Looking gorgeous in the garden and actively taking part in many a craft project. Red perfumed rose petals will feature highly in home made pot pourri and hydrangeas will adorn the home in winter wreaths and fill my jug collection throughout the colder months. And rather bizarrely having spent much of summer disliking yellow, this little potentilla – Longacre caught my eye for a rockery patch close to the entrance to Belle’s steps. This plant was surely a sign of Monty’s forgiveness following last weeks misdemeanour.
Excitedly I squealed to Mr M to come help unload the car with the promise of “I’ve saved us sooo much money” yelled over my shoulder as I rushed to show him. The money saving phrase works well and if you don’t already employ it, I urge you to try. “And I have something rather exciting to show you” he said as he took me in the direction of his wood pile. This is what he’d made. You heard me squeal didn’t you?
from Geoff Hamiltons – Cottage Gardens 
We spent £7.49 on a fence post bobble and a piece of wood with soft edges as the inspirational Geoff Hamilton suggested in this book and Mr M fixed them neatly in situ. And then time sped away at an alarming speed and I found fitting in painting the rather large wooden obelisk nearly impossible. Lucky then Master M is at home for the summer and Mr M had a couple of days away from work. I feel sure they both had many other interesting ideas for ways to spend their time; fortunately for me they decided on a father and son bonding session over a tin of paint.
Of course the Cottage Garden needed filling with bountiful bargains before the wooden obelisk placing ceremony could begin. There were a great many gaps to fill.
Much of the existing planting needed lifting and relocating if plant height and growth were to be considered. Many motivational sentences were dished out during this process, interspersed with the occasional “don’t worry darling, I can manage” as I attempted to dig and lift, garden fork in hand. These statements were followed by a large sigh to demonstrate how I clearly could not cope without him and Mr M got busy and soon the Cottage Garden began to take on its new look. And then once every last bloom was in place in went the wonderful wooden obelisk. Now how fabulous does that look?
Nowadays, I have a little more understanding that in a very short space of time the bare earth will be covered in splendid colour and as for next year in the Cottage Garden… well I almost cannot wait. This is possibly not the wooden obelisk’s final resting place. Next summer I hope for it to be covered in a colourful explosion of delicate and fragrant sweetpeas and I will enjoy the summer breeze wafting the scent into Belle’s whilst I write you a story, so maybe then the obelisk will come closer. Who knows, for now it looks settled and comfortable for when autumn and winter arrive and together with a few other garden supports, the Cottage Garden has the structure I hoped for.
Do you know something,” I said giggling as we packed up our gardening tools for another weekend. “What’s that? asked Mr M casually. “I may have under estimated the size those hydrangeas will grow, wouldn’t it be funny if they grew so big there was no room for the wooden obelisk next year after all” I laughed. His reply? Quite simply unprintable… until next week x
Thoughts now turn to your Christmas present dear friend and alas this would not fit under the tree! I am glad you like it though and since so many do, I am wondering if we are missing a trick and not utilising Mr M’s skill set properly; what do you think?!x
Lovely Molly, I have no intention of sharing your kind words with Mr M; we can’t have him getting above himself and quite frankly he has read far too many gushing comments on Instagram this week about himself. No, no he must be kept on his toes! I too struggle to believe the garden is only a year old. with two such different looks this year alone, I am so excited to see how it grows next spring and summer. Have a lovely week my friend x
I want an obelisk!…. such a great blog! Xxx
Oh Helen what a dream team you and Mr M are…..Mr M is worth is weight in gold 🤫don’t tell him!
I can’t believe this beauty garden is only a year old. I love it and It just gets better and better, such a joy to watch it develop.
Enjoy it my lovely you deserve to after all the hard graft that has gone into it! Xx
You are quite right of course, in a few short weeks the daisies are forgotten. I’m so glad you like the obelisk Mary Katherine, we are really pleased with it and what a good idea for a little retirement pocket money although I have a funny feeling the M children will have us in their gardens making good by then! The lavender has been a roaring success this year, swarming always with bees and I have soooo many crafty ideas for it too…thank you as always for stopping by and leaving happy mail in my comments box and have a very lovely week in your beautiful garden hopefully x
Well-done, all! The obelisk is FABULOUS! I’ll be you could sell those for a tidy sum! Occupation for Mr. M’s retirement years, perhaps? And good shopping, you. All those bargains will serve you well in the coming months and years. I’m jealous of your lavender and sweet peas – inspired now to try them next year myself. The cottage garden is just spectacular, and next year will REALLY come into its own. And the Great Daisy Collapse is a distant memory….
Oh darling now you have me giggling… what a funny word obelisk is! I’m glad you had a laugh, it seems a lot of readers have enjoyed a chuckle today!x
HAhahah Mum!! Who knew reading about an obelisk could make me laugh out loud!! I just had to Google whether or not it was a real thing or if obelisk was another thing-a-me-jig!!???
It looks amazing can’t wait to see the obelisk full of beautiful flowers!
What clever parents I have!!! xxxxxxx
Ha ha Helen, a no dig gardener… you’ve described me totally, yet another thing we have in common. I am sure Adrian is sick to death of me and my Shepherds Hut and now an obelisk to contend with too! I should keep the book under wraps for now if I were you, thank you so much for reading and leaving a lovely comment and have a wonderful week x
Aah I am so happy you like it too Christine, we couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. I find myself picking this years sweetpeas and thinking of next summer and not getting there quickly enough!!! Perhaps an adornment of fairy lights on the obelisk will see me through until then!x
What a treasure Mr M is! His obelisk is looking mighty fine I must say. I have that book buried somewhere amongst all of my packing boxes that were stored away when we started the extension. I can just imagine Adrians reaction if I added that to his list of jobs at the moment so maybe I’ll keep that book nicely stored away for now and give him a little reminder by showing him this blog at a more opportune moment. It’s a wonderful addition to your cottage garden, it sounds like it really has been a team effort with Master M helping too. I did have to laugh at the bit about the digging…… I’m exactly the same., Adrian calls me the no dig gardener. I’m certainly no Charlie Dimmock when it comes to that side of gardening , I’m more about making it look pretty.🌸🌻🌺
Ha ha ha ha!! Brilliant ending to your fabulous blog Hels! Yep, I can just picture Mr M’s face right now with his eyes rolling up towards the sky 🙄 after your comment regarding the hydrangeas! Hilarious! 😄
The wooden obelisk looks a..maz…ing! Wow! Well done Mr M and Master M. Can’t wait to see those gorgeous sweet peas wrapping themselves around the wooden structure next year! Your cottage garden will look even more beautiful! xxxx
You describe Mr M well Claire… twas exactly that look I received! I am so glad you like it; can only imagine next summer and gorgeous sweepeas draped over it. Have a wonderful week ahead my friend x
Morning lovely one… so glad we got your day off with a giggle! We’re so pleased with how the obelisk turned out and I can’t believe I’m already talking about next summer! Have a lovely week my friend x
What a gorgeous story … your final hydrangea reflection made me laugh out loud! I can just imagine Mr M’s skyward eye rolling ! The obelisk and cottage garden looks beautiful – well done design team!
Brilliantly told as usual Helen. The last sentence was hilarious! But frankly, that obelisk is a stroke of genius! xx