Victorian cottage gardens mix greenery, flowers to create classic elegance

Greenhouse owners offer seasonal plant selection advice

BY TIM HENNAGIR STAFF WRITER

The key elements of Victorian garden design can be incorporated into any modern garden.

People can cultivate them on their own –whether they live in the country or city and have a backyard large or small. The English cottage garden combined utility with beauty. Flowers encircled cabbage plants and potato crop.

Cottage garden owers found an ardent friend in the person who tended them. Such gardens were productive spaces where herbs, vegetables, owers and livestock were raised together.

In the Victorian era, the style shifted into informal gardens crammed with owering plants. Victorian cottage gardens represent an idea, said Pete Svihel, owner of Pete’s Greenhouses in rural Foley.

“It’s a lot of greenery, mixed with a few owers,” he said. “A good Victorian perennial garden requires a lot of planning. You have to know what you are buying. Not only the hardiness but blooming times.”

One of the most important things coldclimate gardeners need to know is their plant hardiness zone. Cold hardiness zones are established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every 20 years or so.

“We don’t sell perennials that aren’t right for zone 3,” said Karen Svihel, greenhouse coowner. “We know that some of our customers come up from the Twin Cities, but zone 4 really won’t make it up here.”

When a customer suggests a garden idea, Karen politely asks to look at the customer’s cell phone.

“I like to look at the photos on their phone,” she said. “I ask where they want to start. We may not have everything they want, but I can see if we can replace something.”

The more elaborate the home, the more elaborate the fence and gate. Cast iron was a popular material. Ornaments included urns, sculptures, garden water fountains, sundials, gazing balls and birdbaths.

Seating included garden benches, seat trellis designs and gazebos, which were made as decorative as possible.

Fencing was essential to past Victorian gardens. In part, it was used to delineate property lines. Gardens page 4B

Gardens from page 2B

Karen said natural wickers remain a common material for baskets inside the garden.

Pete said it is important to consider the four blooming stages for perennials – spring, mid or early summer, late summer and early fall. Do not forget about soil. It is 90% of the battle, he said.

Impatiens are great plants if people want loads of color. Their thicker petals and tough foliage are less prone to disease, and their strong, sturdy stems tolerate high heat and humidity, rain and adverse weather conditions. Double impatiens produce beautiful, rose-like flowers and prefer part-sun to shade.

Fuchsia offers an interesting form and color variety. It produces a beautiful, exotic flower with striking two-tone colors. These plants can bloom throughout the growing season in a shady to part-sun area and attract hummingbirds. Plant them in a hanging basket near a garden bench to attract the birds.

Geraniums are iconic, fragrant garden flowers. American growers first fell in love with the geranium

Pete’s Greenhouses

Containers of Moxie Dark red geraniums are planted Feb. 27 at Pete’s Greenhouses in rural Foley. These prolific annuals (genus Pelargonium) are different from perennial geraniums, a diverse group of plants that offers both attractive foliage and colorful flowers.

flower over 200 years ago. They fill hanging baskets, containers and flower beds with fancy leaves that are as attractive as the clusters of dainty blooms they surround.

“You can only keep a geranium alive in a 4.5inch pot for so long,” Pete said. “They get root bound. I do a later planting for people at the end of June. That way, I still have fresh looking plants.”

Victorian cottage gardening is a way to maximize space. Order and neatness is apparent along with a strong nostalgia element, said Greg Loades, the author of “The Modern Cottage Garden: A Fresh Approach to a Classic Style.”

Pete and Karen have been in the greenhouse business for 19 years. Pete is celebrating his 40th anniversary in horticulture this year.

“A lot of people overthink gardening,” he said. “Focus on the basics. Don’t over feed your plants or play around with them too much. Remember, if your soil doesn’t drain, nothing will grow.”