As in one of my previous posts, this cottage garden is also in the coastal village of Landevennec in northern Brittany, France. This garden right by the water puts out a stunning show of fall blooms in September, with a riot of color from hydrangeas, roses, and foliage from grasses and perennials mixed into lush border.
On the outskirts of a small fishing village in Brittany, France, bordered by some woods, the original stone cottage was expanded over the years into a U-shape construction around a pleasant courtyard garden in the front, edged with rough stone walls.
This garden is very reminiscent of what the French used to call a “jardin ouvrier”. Literally meaning “workingman’s or bluecollar garden”, it refers to gardens that while having very much the look of cottage gardens served the very functional purpose of having to feed a family. Typically there will be a kitchen garden in the back or side of the house, with a flowered area in the front. I have featured other such gardens in my posts as they are often found in Brittany villages and around France.
The side of the house is dedicated to a vegetable patch towards the back with rows of tomatos, salads, cabbage, pumpkins, squashes, gourds and potatoes. Flowers are mixed in to help pollination. Towards the front are fruit trees and small vegetables.
The front of the house is planted with a riot of color from assorted annuals, perennials and dahlias, while potted floweres and container arrangements surround the front door and line the path.
Extra gourds and pumpkins go into a wheelbarrow by the gate.
This lovely garden is terraced on a small hill in a picturesque coastal village in norther Brittany, France, with lovely stone retaining walls and steps leading from the house up to the higher levels. It is landscaped with many of the shrubs and perennials that are seen in many other Brittany gardens and are very well suited to the climate: hebe, hydrangeas, roses, wisteria, alyssum, viburnum …
A charming couple owns this house on the northern coast of France, and both are avid gardeners, changing and adding every year new plants, annuals from seed, and cuttings collected from fellow gardeners or just found during walks around the peninsula. They are in the process of redoing the vegetable garden in the back, but part of the front garden is dedicated to a home orchard of fruit trees, apples in several varieties, pears, and plums. Specimen shrubs and palms are underplanted with perennials, and roses are mixed into borders at every turn, or found climbing the walls.
Globetrotting Gardener 