Peek Inside a Cheerful Cottage Garden Full of Roses in Glendale
A Glendale gardener honors her heritage with a cottage garden of roses and ranunculus.
By Wynter Holden | Photography by Melissa Valladares
Horticulture is in Michelle Moghina’s roots. Originally from Romania, Michelle’s passion for plants stems from generations of women with a sixth sense for gardening. It started with her grandmother, who maintained picturesque blooms on the property her family purchased from wealthy landowners. “Even though out of necessity they had to turn part of their land into a farm, my grandmother kept some of the roses,” Michelle says. Like her mother and grandmother, Michelle was always able to nurture plants from seedling to blossom. “It just comes naturally,” she says. “People always ask me how I know what plants need, and I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
Michelle’s talents grew when she and her husband, Christian, built a cottage-style garden from the ground up after moving into their Glendale home four years ago. Christian’s hand-laid paver patios provide a relaxing place for morning coffee or reading a good book in the side courtyard. For this space, Michelle mainly chose drought-tolerant plants such as bougainvillea, palms and sun-loving gopher plant (Euphorbia lathyris). “This garden blooms almost entirely in white,” says Michelle. “My idea was to have a limited color palette, but my husband loves to try a little of everything.”
Walk through the gate into the couple’s backyard and there’s no shortage of color. Arched trellises dripping with trailing lilac invite guests to meander through lush, fragrant beds teeming with dozens of species, including vibrant orange-red poppies, verbena, ranunculus, larkspur and, naturally, an abundance of roses. Michelle trims the blossoms in spring and fall and arranges them into brilliant, jewel-toned bouquets she displays on her Instagram account, @azcottagegarden. But her garden is more than ornamental. White guava and peach trees, along with vegetables and herbs in raised beds, yield abundant crops that Michelle uses to make jams and family meals.
The cottage garden is surprisingly water-efficient, thanks to the home’s ideal southern-facing yard and a well-planned combination of afternoon shade and dense planting. “It takes less water than you think because we plant in clay, which is the natural soil here. It retains water a lot better,” Michelle explains. With drip irrigation in the courtyard and flood bubblers in the back garden, maintaining the plantings is easy enough that this busy mom of five still has time to experiment with new flora. ”Each season, I like to try one or two new plants,” she says. ”If they die, I know not to plant that one next year.”
Asked about the next step in her landscape’s evolution, Michelle admits that she’s torn between a desire for more flowers and the practicalities of maintaining a cottage garden in the desert. Some days she wants to tear out everything except the easy-care plants. “It’s a gardener thing,” she says. “Sometimes we just want what we don’t have.” It seems that even if you’re a skilled gardener, the grass looks greener on the other side.
“The most important thing in Arizona is to know when to plant. Know the location of the sun in your garden and the shade conditions.”
—Michelle Moghina, home gardener
Michelle’s talents grew when she and her husband, Christian, built a cottage-style garden from the ground up after moving into their Glendale home four years ago. Christian’s hand-laid paver patios provide a relaxing place for morning coffee or reading a good book in the side courtyard. For this space, Michelle mainly chose drought-tolerant plants such as bougainvillea, palms and sun-loving gopher plant (Euphorbia lathyris). “This garden blooms almost entirely in white,” says Michelle. “My idea was to have a limited color palette, but my husband loves to try a little of everything.”
Walk through the gate into the couple’s backyard and there’s no shortage of color. Arched trellises dripping with trailing lilac invite guests to meander through lush, fragrant beds teeming with dozens of species, including vibrant orange-red poppies, verbena, ranunculus, larkspur and, naturally, an abundance of roses. Michelle trims the blossoms in spring and fall and arranges them into brilliant, jewel-toned bouquets she displays on her Instagram account, @azcottagegarden. But her garden is more than ornamental. White guava and peach trees, along with vegetables and herbs in raised beds, yield abundant crops that Michelle uses to make jams and family meals.
The cottage garden is surprisingly water-efficient, thanks to the home’s ideal southern-facing yard and a well-planned combination of afternoon shade and dense planting. “It takes less water than you think because we plant in clay, which is the natural soil here. It retains water a lot better,” Michelle explains. With drip irrigation in the courtyard and flood bubblers in the back garden, maintaining the plantings is easy enough that this busy mom of five still has time to experiment with new flora. ”Each season, I like to try one or two new plants,” she says. ”If they die, I know not to plant that one next year.”
Asked about the next step in her landscape’s evolution, Michelle admits that she’s torn between a desire for more flowers and the practicalities of maintaining a cottage garden in the desert. Some days she wants to tear out everything except the easy-care plants. “It’s a gardener thing,” she says. “Sometimes we just want what we don’t have.” It seems that even if you’re a skilled gardener, the grass looks greener on the other side.
