Native Wildflowers and Cultivated Flora.

Local Flowers For Your English Cottage Garden

Local Flowers For Your English Cottage Garden

Covid19 and Gardening

Your travel experiences may be virtual, real or both. Gardening can be a good therapy. It is amazing how by growing local perennial flowers you can bring back those good travel memories. The English Country side is breathtaking. You may not have the beautiful Cotswolds Walls in your backyard. And you may not have the sheep grazing in the pasture. Create your own garden paradise!

American Cottage Garden in Kansas USA

English Cottage Garden in Kansas USA

Cottage Garden In Your Backyard
Surrounding yourself with nature and enjoying God’s creation is rejuvenating. The idea is to maximize the flowers with curvy paths and herbaceous borders. There is balance between Garden and Wilderness. The look is entirely up to the individual gardener. Create your own garden space that reflects your personality and invite the butterflies, birds and pollinators to share it with you.

Lilly Tree

Flowers that go well in your American Cottage Garden
Plant flowers that keep coming back year after year or perennials for your climate zone. Let the breeze blow through your Cottage Garden.

Yarrow
English Cottage Garden

You can relax and watch the flowers dance in the gentle breeze. For an instance you can choose flowers such as Roses, Penstemon, Hollyhocks, Lillies, Mexican Fleabane, Clematis, Hardy Geraniums Coneflowers and Yarrow. Peonies and Irises will keep coming back year after year with beautiful blooms. You can even create a meadow space in your garden with wildflowers. You can choose to plant from seed. If you are planting from seed, choose the meadow wildflowers and not the annuals. Annuals prefer rich soil. And it will attract pollinators to your meadow!

Romanian Cuisine

The great thing about travelling is you get to savor all types of tasty food on the road. Romania with its various cultural influences has some really tasty food. If you are paying in US Dollars, you can eat like a king.

Cultural Influences
Germans (Saxons) settled the Transylvania region when it was under Hungarian rule. You can visit many of the Saxon castles and even fortified churches that protected against invasions. The Turks, Austrians, Greeks and Romans have also left their influence on the food of Romania. Each region in Romania borders different countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine. Some of the Romanian Cuisine is closely related to food eaten in the Balkans.

Popular Romanian Food
Try some tasty sausages Mici or Mititei which is like a blend between a kebab and a regular sausage. Grilled lamb is quite popular here. Various stewed meat dishes with a fusion of locally grown spices create an exotic flavor. Sarmale or stuffed cabbage rolls with meat is a very popular dish eaten in this part of the world. You can also try some very unique cheeses including sheep cheese. Sibiu, Transylvania is a great foodie destination to visit.

Rural Romania
The pastoral lands in Romania offer some really good organic grown food. Even Prince Charles sources organic Transylvanian honey (for his Highgrove Royal Gardens) from Saschiz, Romania! If you have time, take a trip to rural Romania. You can get to experience Eastern Europe at a slower pace and go back in time. Wild flowers still grow in the Romanian meadows like it used to around the rest of Europe.

Getting to Romania
If you are flying from the USA, Delta, KLM, Air France and Alitalia can connect your flight to Bucharest Henri Coandă (OTP) International Airport. The Sky Team Airline partners may connect the flights via their local airline hubs in their respective countries. From Bucharest (Bucuresti), Romania you can take a train to Brasov, Transylvania to explore the castles and the fortified churches.

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Salzburg and the beautiful Salzkammergut region of Austria

Salzburg is around 2 hours by train from Munich and less than 3 hours by train from Vienna. Most of us remember watching the Sound of Music filmed in beautiful Salzburg Austria. The beautiful Schloss Mirabell Gardens is where the Sound of Music “Do Re Mi” was filmed.

Mozart, the classical composer was also born in in Salzburg, Austria. You can visit Mozart birthplace and museum in Salzburg.

Salzburg Christkindlmarkt, Christmas Carols and Advent are beautiful traditions observed here during the Christmas season. The song “Silent Night” is Austrian after all.

Salzburg (salt fortress) became an important center due to the salt trade. The fortress Hohensalzburg overlooking Salzburg is majestic. Stroll around the old town center and soak in the beauty of this place.

But that is not all. The Salzkammergut region is beautiful with Alpine ranges and lakes. Enjoy the beauty of the Austrian countryside. Take a trip to Hallstatt, Austria. This is an amazing place of beauty with the beautiful Hallstatt village hugging the lake.

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Vienna, the city of palaces!

It is amazing how many beautiful buildings and palaces you can find in Vienna (Wien), Austria. The emperors kept building and building new palaces and beautiful buildings.

Flying to Vienna
You can fly into Vienna Airport (VIE) in Schwechat (in German Flughafen Wien-Schwechat). The airport is around 11 miles from Central Vienna and around 35 miles from Bratislava, Slovakia. In Slovak the airport is called Letisko Viedeň-Schwechat. Vienna International Airport makes a good hub to base your travel into the center of Europe.

Getting to Vienna by train
Take a train to Wien Mitte which is like 10 minutes walking distance to the stunning St. Stephen’s gothic cathedral (Domkirche St.Stephan or Steffl). Vienna has lovely pedestrian streets. From St. Stephen’s, you can stroll on the Graben to Kohlmarkt to Heldenplatz.

Heldenplatz
Once you get to the Heldenplatz, you can find your way around to see various magnificent buildings in this area. Check out the Hofburg, Neue Burg, Maria-Theresien-Platz and Albertina. There is also the Volksgarten and Burggarten (Castle Garden). You can also visit the Schmetterlinghaus (Palm Haus). There is really one fascinating building after the other.

Viennese Food
Take some time off to enjoy some good Viennese food. The emperors knew how to eat. You may wish to try Wiener Schnitzel (cutlet) and Tafelspitz (beef). Try some really good desserts such as Kaiserschmarrn (fluffy pancakes with apple sauce and powdered sugar), Viennese Apfelstrudel , and Sachertorte (chocolate cake) with your coffee (melange) at the local cafes. Cafe Demel is a famous bakery and chocolatier that you could visit.

Summer Palaces
You will need more time to visit the Summer Palaces of the Habsburg rulers located around the city. They are spectacular. Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens are really huge. You can also visit the magnificent Belvedere Baroque Palace and Gardens. You can see the great display of wealth of the emperors. This city is really a city of palaces!

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Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas

Little Jerusalem Badlands
Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas USA

The newest State Park in Kansas, USA is truly unique. The Niobara Chalk formation is a hidden treasure in a valley not far from the Smoky Hill River. It is located between Oakley (Logan County) and Scott City (Scott County), Kansas. Go South on US Highway 83 from I-70 at the Oakley exit. Drive South until you pass the Smoky Hill River. Then turn West on to a gravel road to Fairleigh Ranch. You will see signs that will direct you to Little Jerusalem.
The hiking trails will take you around the park. Most of the trails have been improved with gravel. The final trail is a regular natural trail that leads you to the best view of the park and the valley from the top. You will need a guided tour to get down into the valley.
Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas USA
Little Jerusalem Hiking Trails with grasses and wildflowers

It is a peaceful walk through this park while enjoying the spectacular views. There are rock formations, canyons, grasslands, wild flowers and birds to enjoy. You will see beautiful grasses such wild buckwheat and bluestem blowing in the Kansas wind. If you come at the right time of the year, you can see Kansas wildflowers such as Sunflowers growing right along the gravel path. The photos were taken in the Fall just after the Park opened in October 2019. The flowers were done blooming and turned into seeds which is a source of food for the birds.
The rocks and canyons are spectacular. You are staring at what used to be an inland sea. The colors vary with the seasons and light at different times of the day.

Little Jerusalem Badlands
Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas
Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas USA
Little Jerusalem Badlands Kansas USA

Flowers for your English Cottage Gardens

The neat thing about travelling is you get to see, explore and learn more than one way of doing things, for an example gardening. I love the English way of gardening and their romantic herbaceous gardens. So here are some flower ideas you can add to your garden here in North America. Start with the Spring Flowers like Tulips, Crocus and Daffodils. It will sure cheer your mood from the Winter blahs and welcome Spring! Plant flowers like Iris, Roses, Peonies so they will bloom after your Spring flowers are done. So there is always some beautiful flower blooming throughout the year. Add Yarrow, Daisies, Cone Flowers, Echinacea, Sunflowers, Foxglove, Columbines, Hardy Geraniums, Hollyhocks and Rambling Roses to the mix. Heirloom Roses produce the most heavenly fragrance. Plant herbs like Lavender, Thyme, Oregano, Mint, Sage and Rosemary along the curvy paths you create with gravel or stepping stones. Consider adding flowers like Asters, Oxeye Sunflowers (blooming late Summer) that will flower till the last Frost. These flowers will attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators to your garden. Don’t forge the Evergreens! This will give structure to your garden so it will look pretty when in snows in Winter. Bring a little bit of English Cottage Garden feel to your back yard!

Tulips
Daffodils
Crocus
Oxeye Sunflowers
Columbine Flowers
Foxglove
Hyacinth Spring Flower
  • Allium
    Allium Spring Flower
  • Kansas Peony
    Kansas Peony
  • Iris
    Yellow Iris
  • Miniature Roses
    Miniature Roses

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English Cottage Gardens for Americans

West Yorkshire England
West Yorkshire England

It is amazing how many of our New World American flowers made it into the English Cottage Gardens. Everything from the Yarrow to the Echinacea grace English Cottage Gardens.

Flowers of the United Kingdom
Flowers of the United Kingdom

It is always nice to bring home some of the ideas you pickup while you travel. The English Cottage Garden concept can be applied right here at home in the USA. Instead of just manicured green lawns you can create “garden rooms” with the English Cottage Garden theme, quite romantic really. It can bring the Old World charm right into your backyard. Curvy herbaceous pathways leading you to keep exploring, trying to find what is around the corner. You may not be in the Cotswolds or West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, but it may sure bring back the sweet memories.

Here are a few flowers that would look good in a English Cottage Garden. More flower ideas for English Cottage Gardens.

Oxeye Sunflowers
Columbine Flowers
Foxglove
Foxglove flowers for English Cottage Gardens

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US Wildflowers

It is amazing that when you visit a place, certain things in nature will grab your attention. Beautiful waterfalls like the ones in Yellowstone National Park will definitely be on the top of the list. But sometimes just a simple delicate flower growing above the tree line (Tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado) or by the side of the road (Pacific Coast Highway California) or wildflowers (in the foreground of the Grand Tetons, Wyoming) will mesmerize you. You just have to stop and take photos and post it on Instagram or Facebook. You just cannot help yourself! It is truly something worth sharing with your friends.

Pacific Coast
Wildflowers Pacific Coast Highway California

Wildflowers Grand Tetons
Wildflowers Grand Tetons

Rocky Mountain National Park Tundra
Tundra Wildflowers Rocky Mountain National Park

Cameron Highlands Malaysia

The English developed the Rain Forest in the mountains where it is cooler into tea plantations with beautiful English Style houses. The famous Boh Tea Plantations below is worth the visit.

Boh Tea Plantation in Cameron Highlands

You can find green houses hugging the side of mountains filled with all sorts of flowers. The valleys are terraced and planted with rows of vegetables.

Cameron Lavender Garden Malaysia
Various flowers everywhere at Lavender Garden Cameron Highlands Malaysia
Cameron Highlands Strawberries Malaysia
Cameron Highlands Strawberries Malaysia

You can also get the best organic strawberries from different green houses in Cameron Highlands.

Take Time To Smell The Roses

Always take the time to stop and see the beautiful flowers in each place you visit. Depending on the season, it can be the best show in town. For an example, when I was in Amsterdam in Spring, Keukenhof Gardens was in full bloom with Spring flowers. I don’t think I have seen that many flowers all in one place! It is really hard to beat Spring.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam

And then there is Cameron Highlands in Malaysia where it is “eternal spring” in the mountains. A site to behold. Of course don’t forget the English Cottage Gardens, in Great Britain. The English Garden with the natural look, filled with flowers and herbaceous borders will make you come back again and again to England. And here in the USA, we have some of our own gardens to visit such as the Biltmore Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina and Old West Bury Gardens in New York.