Of course it's possible. I don't know what your climate is like but I read that it is coastal sub tropical. There are loads of cottage gardens around the coasts here where quite tender plants thrive. The main difference I imagine is that we have no lack of rain. I imagine you would need wind, drought and salt tolerant plants. There are hundreds. You'll also need some shrubs as 'bones'.

Things that come to mind are Argyranthemums, Dimorphotheca, Brachyglottis, Brachycome, Convolvulus cneorum and C. sabatius, Gazanias, Cistus, Cytisus, Tamarix, Helianthemums, Crambe, Venidium, Echeveria, Phygelius, Kniphophia, Agapanthus, Escholtzia, lots of bulbs ..... and that's just off the top of my head. All these are drought,salt and wind tolerant. I am sure people more local to you will chip in with other, better ideas.

Barb, I have agapanthus. If you want to try that.

Thank you Flora, I have copied your suggestions and will take to the nursery today. This is going to be exciting. Barbra

Kathy, I had them there, but they all look like they froze, the leaves are transparent. I will wait to see if they come back. If not by April, I will see you at the plant swap. Do you need any amaryllis bulbs? Do you still have any luffa plants? Barbra

Some of the most beautiful Cottage Gardens I have ever seen were coastal gardens.
Good luck and have fun!
~Annie

I still have loofah seeds. Want some? Your agapanthus will come back. Or at least mine always have. I have had one or another of them since 1998.

Kathy, I hope you are right, I would hate to loose them. Yes I want the seeds, Linda Collins is looking for them. Rainbow Gardens, should be getting their Botanical Interests Seeds in. I made my list today, I want Black Magic and Blue Boy Bachelor Buttons, Sea Shells Cosmos, Scarlet Flax, and Scarlett Globemallow, Hyacianth beans, Morning Glory Bush, Lauren's and Peoney Double Blend Poppy's, Jupiter's Beard Centurions Shield, and Giant Fantasy Zinna's. I will go tomorrow I hope they have everything on my list. Barbra

honeybunny2 - I hope you have a good plant shopping trip. One word of advice I would recommend is to try to find out the correct botanical name and, where relevant, the varietal name, when you buy plants. Common names often apply to several different plants and you want to make sure you get the right thing. For varieties or cultivars there are many to choose from so you need to be sure you are getting what you want.

Barb, the loofah are the type used for scrubbing, not the eating varity.

I remember mother growing hollyhocks (not hybrids), celosias and nasturtiums down in the valley, which has similar growing conditions.

Flora, I know exactly what you are talking about, my friend Linda, who is a master gardener, has shown me this. My mother taught me all the common names of plants when I was a small child, its a hard habit to break. Barbra

Kathy, that is what Linda is looking for.

I went to Rainbow gardens today, they were almost sold out of seeds, they were suppost to get a new shipment today. I called at 4pm, she said she is still waiting for UPS. I will go back tomorrow and get the rest of the seeds. I went to Wal-Mart, and they had seeds for 20 cents a pkg. Has anyone ever bought those?. I could not resist. I got Calendula "Pacific Beauty", Bachelor Button " Blue Boy", Gaillardia, Cosmos " Single Sensation", and Zinnia "Giant Cactus", all for one dollar. I also hit Lowes, and got Cosmos " Double Take", Convolvulus " Ensign Red", African Daisy, and Larkspur "Kaleidoscope". Next weekend I will sow these directly into my flower beds, I can't wait to get started. I will post pictures, if everything goes well. If not, I will be back at Lowes buying plants. Barbra

I posted some ideas on your other post at Gulf Coast Gardening. You might not want to give up on tropicals. Like one poster said you are a *sub*tropical zone, as I was in Louisiana, and so every few years or maybe every 10 yrs, you will experience an unusually harsh winter and lose your tropicals. Here in north Mississippi we have broken the all time record for snowfall this season with 13.5 inches, the prior record being 12 inches in a season. So I wouldn't want to put all my eggs in one basket with all tropicals by any means, but enjoying some of them might be reasonable. Take care, Laurie

Laurie for 13 years the freezing weather at the coast was less than 1 hour, never an entire day. We had snow once, but did not loose a plant, it insulated them. Then last year we had freezing weather for 3 consecutive days. I thought that it would not happen again. Then this year it happened again, but worse. We had 3 consective days of freezing weather one week, then the next week get another 1 1/2 days of freezing weather. I am really excited about the cottage garden, and hope that it works. I know some of the tropical plants will survive. I actually dug up the plumeria and desert roses( that I replaced in June), so I know they made it. My plan is if any brugmansia, siam red banana, or torch gingers survived I will plant them in hugh pots, then place them in my cottage garden. I will not know what survived for at least another month. Barbra

Hi again Barbra. I see from your list that you are getting lots of annuals. That's very cottagy but where you live your garden could be all year round so I personally would also get into perennials and, as I said, some shrubs. A 'real' cottage garden would be full of a mixture of plants, not just annuals. By their very nature cottage gardens were eclectic and had to be easy care. Permanent plantings will help that. You could also be getting some summer flowering bulbs like Crocosmias and the little Gladiolus nanus cultivars. Crocosmias have run riot around our coasts. They thrive in mild, well drained, sunny ground and there are some lovely ones which are less rampant the the standard 'Montbretia'. Another two bulbs which love the sun and will flower in November are Schizostylus and Nerine bowdenii. Both will take an occasional light freeze. Also there are the Mediterranean herbs, rosemary, lavender, sage, thyme and bay which would be perfectly happy in a seaside location. They can take heat, drought and salt. I am quite excited with this project. The opportunities are endless. Even before you start thinking about 'nautical' featues like drift wood, rope handrails, pebble edgings, boat seats in shelters, etc. I'd love to be doing myself!

Here is a link that might be useful: Boat seat

Flora, I will take your advise and add perennials, and shrubs. I am waiting to see what will come back from the roots. I should know by the middle of March. Yesterday Lowes marked down some perennials, I pick up dwarf coreopsis" Nana" for $1 a gallon. Kathy, you would be proud of me, I only bought 6. Barbra

You should go to the library and get the book, "An Island Garden" by Celia Thaxter with its beautiful illustrations. It was written in the 1890s but it tells how she made and tended her cottage garden on an island off the coast of New Hampshire.

If you saw the hunk of rock where she gardened, you'd be sure you could make a cottage garden on the coast.

Only 6? Dang, I am proud of you!

Ginny, I have never even seen a rock in my yard. It's solid sugar sand, with an occasional oyster shell. I have added tons of mulch, over the past 16 years. Problem is the 100 degree days for weeks at a time. I do have a sprinkler system, and 3 water wells, but since I do not live there, sometimes the sprinkler system just isn't enought, so I have to stick with drought tolerant plants. Barbra