I think my favorite combination of flowers for a cottage home (if it is possible to narrow them down) would be to (at least) have climbing roses and an abundance of blue hydrangeas. As we are getting *closer* to completion of our renovation projects in our new home (by *closer* I don’t mean it’ll all be done this week or even this month, we still have a lot to do ha!) I am getting ready to plant a few roses and have been making some plans for what I’d like to do with our landscaping.
While I love that combination of flowers, so do deer :). We never had a deer bother any of our flowers in Seattle (do they even have deer in the city? I don’t think I ever saw one there). But we now live on an island in an area with the sweetest deer. They love our neighborhood. Coincidently, they also love the same flowers I do haha.
The sweetest mama deer and her little fawn were in our yard right in the middle of the construction materials for a week or so after she gave birth (they were under the trees in a safe little nest). It was the most precious thing. Last night I saw mama deer again with her two babies taking a little stroll past our home. I love seeing them and love that they are comfortable here but I just really don’t want them to eat my flowers. Sniff them. Enjoy them. Don’t snack on them. :)
Nevertheless, I am an optimist that all of the adorable bunnies and deer and my flowers will get along. And I am willing to take risks to be surrounded by them all. So I threw caution to the wind recently and ordered a few climbing roses and will be getting my blue hydrangeas, too. I want to see them from my kitchen French doors!
My thought at the moment is that they have plenty of other places to go (including a 3,000 acre protected forest and meadow and a lovely beach within walking distance from us) so they don’t necessarily *need* to make my backyard garden their home or personal buffet.
So I’m coming up with a few ideas that may make our backyard a little less enticing to them, but we shall see how this goes. Of course the hydrangeas and roses WILL be a new source of joy for all of us, so I can hardly blame them. It might all be a lost cause, but as long as I’m trying things I might even take a bigger risk and plant some in the front yard too because you never know until you try! In fact, we actually already have a climbing rose there and it somehow has survived.
My rose and hydrangea experiment might be short lived (also I have a very small yard so all around, this could be a fail) and if so, I’ll plant something else. And at least I can always enjoy other people’s roses and hydrangeas. But crossing my fingers!
Enjoy the inspiration in this week’s Sunday Strolls + Scrolls post!
Sunday Strolls + Scrolls is a series inspired by the interiors and exterior spaces I fell in love with while scrolling the internet. I particularly enjoy finding spaces and ideas that reflect a sense of sanctuary! I hope this series will feel as relaxing and enjoyable to you as a leisurely walk down a charming street, a peaceful stroll through a garden or finally getting to peek inside a lovely neighborhood home during a Sunday open house.
Browse all past Sunday Strolls & Scrolls inspiration posts here.
Did you see the peek of our new backyard deck off the French doors? See it here!
The deer around here can even love plants they’re not supposed to! Sometimes when I’m Christianson’s I just say I’m buying deer food – haha. But when I downsized a few years ago I was able to have a fenced back yard for my roses, hydrangeas, tulips, geraniums plus more and let the deer have control of the front yard.
Sometimes I think there are more deer on our island than people!
You should look into making a homemade deer spray. Thats what I do and it works like a charm. On heirloom roses website there is a recipe. I reduce it by a third and just use a spray bottle to spray my roses about once a week or a little less often if not rainy.
Thank you, that sounds perfect! I will definitely do that!
You have deer visitors and we have rabbits. I just finished surrounding my new ‘Once in a Melon Echinachea with some fencing to help just long enough to get them started in the garden. I don’t wish to harm my furry friends..just telling them to move on to some clover in the neighbors yard! ha!
Would love to know which roses you’ve chosen to plant and the hydrangeas. I’ve realized here (zone 5 b Midwest) I need a reliable bloomer and Nikko’s fill that for me…Rythmic blue is doing well too but the Endless varieties can end up not blooming due to the harsh late spring frosts or cold that zaps their flower buds even though the bloom on old and new wood they’ve gone summers without a single bloom so I’ve potted those and placed the Nikko’s in the ground. Good luck!!
We bought three varieties of climbing roses! We got Eden, New Dawn and White Dawn. I haven’t decided yet on the hydrangeas, I love the color of Nikko’s and would love to have them here. But I’m wondering though if they will be too big! Our back yard is TINY. VERY TINY! :) I don’t mind if a couple of hydrangeas take up the whole yard, but Endless Summers are usually smaller I think so size wise that would be probably better. Unless I can find a dwarf version, not sure if I’ve seen one though.
I hope you find a solution! When the neighborhood was in the early days of development I planted everything and they stayed beautiful all summer and well into late fall.
The climbing roses that you spoke of have survived winters deer and let’s not forget Covid. As you know we were unable to travel there during this period. I like to think that the 9 year old roses have survived as they were planted in memory of my wonderful Mother. They were beginning to bloom again when we turned the little beach house over to you. It does my heart good to know you love them as much as I did. Enjoy Melissa hope you have many wonderful years there. We are certainly enjoying being able to make our home now a home instead of a stop over. 🌹🌹🌹🌹
Thank you Jessica, I’m so glad you’re enjoying your home!
Deer don’t like the smell of lavender. Nice to put the tallest, most fragrant varieties in front of your roses to deter them.
That’s so smart! Thanks for the tip!