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!