Mudlavia and The Cottage Garden

I have never considered myself a historical fiction writer. I love writing fantasy and am often doing some sort of historical research for my fantasy novels, but when I decided to write Mudlavia and pursue it seriously, I wondered how in the world I would pull off a historical fiction.

It’s funny how you can find connections to a place that was built and burned down so many years ago. As I researched, I found myself being drawn to the old menus and food, to the vegetable gardens, the animals, and the flowers. It turns out that the love of food and gardening and flowers can span one hundred years and still touch a reader like me today.

I fell hard for any information on Mudlavia’s flower gardens, feeling an immediate connection to them due to my own love of gardening. When we moved into our home six and a half years ago, the neighbors who lived there before us said they named it “The Honeymoon Cottage”, because it was old, cute, and small, like a little place you would rent for your honeymoon. I loved their nickname for our house and started looking up cottage gardens and old-timey flowers. Since then, my flower beds have been a labor of love, so when I came across information about Mudlavia’s beautiful cottage-style gardens with winding paths and fountains, I couldn’t wait to learn more.

The photo of the Mudlavia postcard above features daffodils. I’ve been told that there is a series of these postcards, however, I’ve never laid eyes on any but this one.

One woman, who visited Mudlavia as a child, described the gardens as a delight and a wonder to children. They were welcome to run and giggle along the crushed stone paths, explore the rainbow displays of flowers, and wiggle their fingers in the goldfish pond for the fish to nibble on.

A few people I interviewed mentioned that the gardeners at Mudlavia collected seeds at the end of the season and would create seed packets. These packets were given to the guests at the end of their stay, so they could plant the flowers and experience the beauty and serenity of the Mudlavia gardens at their own homes.

Although it has been hard to find references to specific flowers, some references included canna lilies, daffodils, ivy, and irises. The rest I get to dream up. I started with the Select Seeds catalogue, which is a company that saves and sells heirloom flower seeds. Their catalogue has detailed information about old-fashioned flowers, like when they came onto the market, if they had medicinal properties in the good ol’ days, and how they were used in cottage gardens.

They say when you’re a writer, to write what you know. If it’s something you don’t know well and you are learning about, I think it’s also important to write what you connect to. For me it was using my love of flowers to not just tell you about Mudlavia in my novel, but to make you feel as you can see and smell and experience the beauty of the Mudlavia gardens like you were a guest there.