Figment Cottage Gardens

Figment Cottage Gardens We're hardcore cottagecore. When it comes to flowers, more is more! We offer on site cottage garden design for clients in Maryland, Northern Virginia and D.C.
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and virtual everywhere else! We’re a retailer of Alton Cedar & Janssens greenhouses.

Photoshoot with Baltimore magazine and the talented Anchor Pictures ! Thank you SO much for the lovely feature and gorge...
09/03/2026

Photoshoot with Baltimore magazine and the talented Anchor Pictures ! Thank you SO much for the lovely feature and gorgeous spread. It’s making me especially happy to look back at how colorful and tidy my gardens were in June. 🫠

I’m so excited about the drone shots! Now you can really see how I’ve planned my 2 acres and the scale of the gardens.

What’s your fav photo of this bunch? More to come!

Beekeeping is as complicated as you make it! And for me.. I make it uncomplicated.What beekeeping questions do you have?...
09/01/2026

Beekeeping is as complicated as you make it! And for me.. I make it uncomplicated.

What beekeeping questions do you have?

09/01/2026

Part II: How to Plan Your Garden—Map Site Conditions so you don’t kill plants. 😵

You wouldn’t set your friend up with someone you didn’t know. So, why would you do that to your beloved plants!?

Mapping site conditions—or failing to—is among the top reasons I see clients and people here kill plants. Lavender is in full sun, but a soggy spot. Salvia is getting leggy and not blooming because it’s being eclipsed by a taller plant. Lady’s mantle is drying up because it’s getting scorched and in dry soil. Get the picture? Sun is only one part of the equation, but to begin...

1️⃣ Start with a compass. This is a NONNEGOTIABLE. You MUST know the compass direction your garden/house faces. That way, you know how light moves and where plants, trees, and structures will cast shadow at different times of day. In summer, your plants will get a lot more sun because of the higher more intense sun angle. In fall and winter, that angle drops and gives plants less light. Pay more attention to sun during summer than fall and winter, but do factor that in for evergreen shrubs.

2️⃣ Read the sun wisely. Photograph your garden ever two hours from 9-3. This is a full sun day for most plants (lilacs and fruit trees like even more). You’ll see that full sun gardens aren’t necessarily full sun—and vice versa for shade. You may have a shady microclimate from taller perennials or trees. You may get a ray of blistering heat at 3pm from the western sun that scorches shade plants. This is why you map it by the hour.

3️⃣ Pay attention to soil moisture. You may also have wet or dry spots in the same garden bed. Pay attention to soil moisture so you choose the right plants for the right space and conditions. Is there something you can do to control runoff? Do you need terracing to help with a slope and dry site? Maybe some basic soil amending with compost will help. Or—you could take the conditions as they are and choose the right plant for the job.

Save this post and follow along for part III of this series: making a plant list! Yay, it’s starting to get a heck of a lot more fun.

09/01/2026

Comment WINTER SOWING and I’ll send you a link to my seeds and guides to help you grow OUTSIDE this winter in zones 3-10!

I LOVE winter sowing. It completely changed the way I grow perennials, herbs, veggies, and hardy annuals. I start sweet peas, snapdragons, tomatoes, and so much more OUTSIDE in my ingested greenhouse (and just in bags on the ground outside) in zone 7b. It takes hours versus DAYS of indoor growing (hardening off, watering, etc etc). Plus, the whole thing costs less than $25 (and free if you can reuse materials.

Have questions about winter sowing? Ask me in the comments! Or tell me your success stories below.

And before you come at me for plastic use, think whether you’d like people to grow hundreds of flowers and food in repurposed bags, or have trucks guzzling fossils fuels deliver them one by one in packaging and individual plastic plant containers? Way lesser of two evils.

Address

6288 Belmont Circle
Mount Airy, MD
21771

Telephone

+18606046030

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