The Contemporary Cottage Garden: New Book Giveaway
A new gardening book hits the market and I think you’ll love its photos and content. The Contemporary Cottage Garden by Pamela Hubbard reimagines a cottage-themed, timeless garden style for today’s gardener, blending beauty, thoughtful plant choices, and modern sensibility. Whether you’re just beginning your gardening journey or have years of experience under your belt, this book offers fresh inspiration and practical ideas for creating a cottage garden that feels both classic and current. And to celebrate, I’m giving away a free copy to one lucky reader. All you need to do to enter to win is leave a comment at the end of this post. Let’s take a peek inside the book! All photos by Rob Cardillo.
Cottage flowers are my favorite and you’ll find plenty of floral inspiration inside the pages. One thing I always consider in the garden is the mix of colors. Sometimes it’s fun to have contrasts, and other times a monochromatic palette can be used. It’s really up to your personal preference. Here, the sunny disposition of coreopsis pairs beautifully with blue cornflower.
Similar to the color combination above, swamp sunflower shines against the backdrop of purple asters.
No cottage garden is complete without some type of garden structure and an arbor gate is the classic way to go. Adding charm to your landscape, it’s also a great structure for flowering vines. Light purple clematis clambers over the top of the arch while a deeper purple peeks out from the bottom. A clump of phlox stands attention on the front side of the gate. It all creates the desire to wander in and explore the rest of the garden.
Near and dear to my own heart, this cottage garden features a small pond filled with waterlilies. It’ll be even more beautiful when those lilies are in bloom. A variety of flowers provide a cozy backdrop, with the little white cottage setting the stage for the landscape.
What I love most about a cottage-style garden is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Flower placement can look a little haphazard while edges can be simple like worn bricks or a border of different sized rocks set up in a curving pattern. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for a professional landscaper to make your yard pretty.
The Contemporary Cottage Garden also features food gardens with vegetables and herbs. I love that deer-resistant nasturtium and marigolds are paired with cabbage and onions. It’s fun to mix flowers and vegetables for an eclectic look. Not to mention, marigolds are an excellent pest-repellent. My grandfather always planted them around the perimeter of his veggie gardens – especially his beloved tomatoes.
The book includes simple, practical tips for sustaining a contemporary cottage garden. I’m a firm believer in using rainwater whenever possible to water flowers and vegetables, if possible. Consider adding a rain barrel under your downspouts. Bigger is better so you can store more water. I often use my pond water to irrigate the nearby flower beds and hanging baskets. The water is filled with so many great nutrients.
The images in the book showcase the author’s gorgeous garden and you’ll learn how to:
- Create a cottage meadow garden
- Support biodiversity and attract pollinators
- Build rain gardens
- Design sensory gardens for all five senses
- Design drought-tolerant gravel gardens
- Garden for stress relief and healing
- Create gardens that connect children to nature
To enter for a chance to win The Contemporary Cottage Garden, simply leave a comment below. I’ll announce the winner of this wonderful book next Saturday, February 7th.
I would love this book!
Can’t wait for spring to arrive and looking through the contemporary garden book is the perfect inspiration to get through these last cold days of winter !
Deb Davis
This looks like a really lovely book! I think we all need a breath of spring and the beauty it brings.
A breath of spring in the midst of winter. The mix of flowers and vegetables are appealing along with beautiful photos!
What lovely pictures. And a book that helps the home gardener achieve the cottage garden look but in a more modern way is most helpful. Thanks for giving one of us the chance to win this book.
Would love to win a copy to show at my garden clubs. I belong to two. One in Ohio and one in Florida it looks amazing.
The book looks fantastic with so many great ideas.
There’s something so soothing and peaceful about a cottage garden. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just free and colorful. Thanks for sharing.
This looks like a wonderful book. Make’s me homesick to be outside gardening . So ready for Spring!!
This subject speaks to my heart.
My husband and I have a small farm in western South Dakota where we built our home last year. In the 0.6 acres immediately around the house, I have initiated our garden with keystone plants. Drought resistance and pollinator support have been central to my planning. I am looking forward to learning more about sensory gardens for all five senses, adding water features, and overplanting to out-compete weeds.
As I sit in my sunroom on Saturday, January 31, 2026In “the sunny south “state of South Carolina I’m watching the snowfall for the second weekend in a row which we are expecting 4 to 6 inches here almost unheard of! The pictures in the book give me hope that yes spring will come again shortly and hopefully I’ll be able to glean some inspiration from reading that book!
Gorgeous eye candy – especially as everything is white and very cold. Thanks.
I love this book! Cottage gardens are absolutely the best!
As I look ant the ice and snow covering my garden I daydream of little green shoots of promise poking through the cool spring ground. My brave hellebores are already blooming despite the cold and will soon be joined by crocus and daffodils.
What a pleasure it is to sit and peruse a book to gain ideas on how to improve my borders. I’ve been working on my cottage garden for many years and it brings me immense pleasure. Books are the next best thing to having my fingers in the soil! I would absolutely delight in The Contemporary Cottage Garden!
I look forward to seeing the beautiful things you share with us and hope you’re enjoying a safe and warm winter!
Good Saturday snowy morning from Michigan. Can’t wait to start gardening. Seeds will be started soon to plant out in late May. I have Spring fever. Happens every year. The new garden book is lovely. Thank you for this opportunity.
The book looks beautiful. Gardens seem to feed my soul. Im always looking for inspiration.
Beautiful photographs and ideas! I can’t wait for spring!
What a lovely book. I have just moved to a home with a blank back yard. My daughter gifted me with a picket fence to enclose it. This book would be a great help to me as I start a cottage garden.
Thank you for the chance to win such a beautiful book full of ideas. I am having a cup of coffee while looking out the window at my frozen garden. It is 6 degrees. Spring can’t come soon enough!
How welcome a beautiful book such as this is on a cold January day !
I don’t believe I’ve heard of this book. I would love to have a copy because this is definitely my garden style!
Looks like great inspiration and helpful information fills this book!
I am soooooooooo ready for spring and could use some garden inspiration. This book could definitely give me some great ideas!!
that’s exactly the look I want
Pictures are beautiful, this is a garden that you would want to spend time in!
Hey Jennifer! I’m so glad to have found your blog again. I’ve saved the post about the burial spots below the trees to have when the time comes for us. That was such a helpful and peaceful option.
I’m going to try to add some more yellow in my garden space this summer. We have such a high rabbit population here and they eat so many of my flower starts that I can’t get things a growin’!! Going to large pots and some round wire protection earlier on in the planting season here in Indiana.
The book looks lovely! Why are books so darned expensive these days!? I think beautiful inspiration is a must these crazy days.
I love it when I see a simple garden and think, “I can do that “. Thank you for the late winter inspiration.
Your book provides wonderful, creative inspiration for adding color and texture to our naturalized acre of Colorado pines, aspen, and native grasses! We would love a copy!
What an inspiring post cannot wait for spring!! Snow and cold love until about now this makes me grave the garden soil in hand and seeds and planting! Would love a chance to win this book and dream and plan until then! Thanks Jennifer 🌸
I want to change up my while back landscape. Need inspiration. Hard to find landscaping designers. I would love book to gain inspiration. Thank you for sharing.
I love cottage gardens. The photos were beautiful.
Beautiful photos! Lovely ideas! My gardening skills could use some inspiration! Thank you for the opportunity to move forward.
The arbor gate is lovely! Clematis is one of my favorites.
This was the perfect post for the end of January with the Michigan winter we’ve been having. I always wait until February to look at new gardening magazines to start my garden plans for the year to get me through the remainder of winter (hopefully spring arrives early this year!! Thank you for the inspiration.
I would love to win this beautiful book.
A jumpstart of ideas as I start the revitalization of our historical garden at our ranch in Wyoming!
Would love more ideas on gardening under Contemporary Conditions!
Would love to win! I have already started dreaming about my flower and vegetable garden at my new property! It is the best way to get through these days of snow and wind and extreme cold!
Cottage gardens are my favorite for a joyful and peaceful vibe! I have attempted this on my own at could sure use the inspiration of this beautiful book!
This is the book for me! Spring is around the corner and I would like inspiration, Thank you.
I’m so excited. We have a blank slate waiting for us to plant ! We’ve recently added a large wrap around porch to our 100+ yr old home and are dreaming through the current snowflakes of what that yard can look like . We are eager to incorporate some of your ideas and expertise as viewed in the pictures shown. Your book would be a valuable asset in making our yard as interesting and as beautiful as yours. Thank you.
This book looks wonderful. We are putting in a new yard and I would love to read this for inspiration.
Inspiring! Thank you for your lovely photos in the middle of winter!