Not many people buy a house to match a
garden style. But Melinda Lehman was
so fond of cottage gardens that when
she and her then-fiance, Jim Cybul,
were shopping for their first home in
the Chicago area, getting that look
topped her list. “I’m not sure Jim was
aware that was part of the agenda,” she
admits. “But I made him come look at
this place. I could really see how a
garden was goingto work with this little
brick cottage with the kooky turret.”
Melinda got the house she wanted,
and the self-taught gardener soon set to
work tearing out overgrown weeds,
shrubs, and trees, and picking new
plants. “I was very excited about getting
started,” she says. “I learned from books
and magazines, and from poring over
the plants I saw in garden catalogs. A
huge influence for me was
English
Cottage Gardening for American
Gardeners
by Margaret Hensel.”
Melinda wanted lush, overgrown
plantings “with hollyhocks and roses
and daisies all blousy and pastel.”
Boisterous plantings,
above,
and old-
fashioned accessories,
opposite,
give the
home its cottage
character. “We think
it’s increased the value
of our house, but more
importantly, it has
made the house a
home,” says Melinda
Lehman. “ We’re out
there all the time and
enjoy every minute.”
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS JUNE 2008 I 5 I
