Spring Flowers for a Colorful Cottage Garden

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Today’s post is just as much for my benefit as I hope it is for yours. I’ve noticed a few things I’ve done wrong with my spring flowers and bulbs this year that I wish to correct in the fall, and I’m writing this as a reminder for myself. Despite some obvious setbacks, gardening in a colder New England climate (we’re zone 5b for cold hardiness, though it sometimes feels closer to zone 1) has its advantages. For one, you get 5+ months of rest from your toil, and plenty of time to learn, dream and plan all the wonderful things you’ll do with your garden come spring. Then reality kicks in and things perhaps don’t go as planned, but at least you tried. Gardening comes with a steep learning curve, but also many shortcuts and rewards.

Spring flowers in New England - Royal Star magnolia
Star magnolias in bloom
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Dining Room Progress

If you’ve been following us on Instagram @cafedesignhome, our account dedicated entirely to the renovation of our little New England Cape, you might have noticed that we recently completed some construction work at our house. Big changes have happened that I’m very excited about and thought I’d share them with you. Over the last couple of months my husband and I have been working at warp-speed, in between Zoom meetings and home-schooling efforts with our second-grader, tackling little projects here and there and checking things off of our humongous, ever-expanding to-dos list. Keeping our minds and hands busy has been the only way to retain sanity and a sense of normalcy during these difficult times… 

The dining room, the day of our move last summer
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On My Mind

I had different plans for today’s post, wanting to show you Caroline Gidiere’s fabulous Mountain Brook, Alabama, home that everyone’s been talking about, featured in Veranda’s colorful Spring issue. But instead, I got sidetracked and hung up on my own myriad of thoughts about our own home renovation and decided to share with you what’s been on my mind lately. Writing this blog always helps clear my head and I’ve included a few images found on Pinterest that best reflect the mood & feel I’m after with our little cottage.

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