Charming Cottage Garden Style
On a small lot overflowing with blooms, Betsy Fleenor brings the romance back to her Birmingham garden
Tudor Cottage
Who hasn’t dreamed of coming home to a cottage garden? Densely planted with everything from flowers to fruit, they exude grace
and charm. When Betsy Fleenor and husband Michael purchased their Birmingham Tudor-style home, the front yard was very different
from what you see today. The carpet of grass and boring shrubs didn’t enhance the house. Betsy envisioned a cottage-style
garden, but it took 15 years for the garden of her dreams to become a reality. Out came the lawn, and in went the up-front
flowers woven into a tapestry of shrubs, roses, natives, herbs, and vines. “Now our Tudor-style house feels like a home, and
it has the cottage-style garden it deserves,” says Betsy.
