Hi Frank.
These days, I'm not sure that there's really any qualifier for what a cottage garden is, exactly. I tend to think that a cottage garden has the potential of delivering a surprise around any corner. Edible fruits, herbs or veggies popped in here and there amongst overhanging vines and flowering shrubs and trees, and interspersed liberally with brightly colored blooms of all heights and many different colors. It's not usually a garden where every planting can be seen from one spot on the porch -you need to meander around a bit to see it all.
To my mind anyway, it's really a matter of our own perceptions; if you think of it as such, then it either is, or it's well on its way to being one.
