Welcome to Cheeky Garden: The Story Behind the Dirt

Cheeky Garden | Bloom Bold. Be Cheeky. 🌿

If you’re a real‑life homeowner who wants a cozy, cottage‑style yard that feels magical but still approachable (and a little chaotic), you’re in the right place. Welcome to Cheeky Garden — a gardening and outdoor living blog inspired by cottage gardens, hydrangeas, DIY backyard projects, and creating beautiful spaces that make people want to gather.

I’m Deana, the gardener behind Cheeky Garden, an outdoor‑living‑obsessed, hydrangea‑collecting creator based in New York. Cheeky Garden started during the pandemic, in the first year of my marriage, while my husband and I were living in a 425-square-foot ground-level apartment in a mother-daughter home.

Thankfully, our landlord was my cousin, which made the space feel less like a rental and more like home. During a time when the world felt small and uncertain, our little apartment somehow felt full of possibility. As spring arrived and the weather finally warmed up, we spent almost every evening outside together fixing up the yard.

That outdoor space became our escape.

The Tiny Backyard That Started It All

There was an old dusty patch where a pool used to sit that we transformed into a simple fire pit area. We added edging, planted flower beds, and slowly started bringing life back into the space. Most of the plants came straight from my dad’s garden, which made everything feel even more meaningful from the start.

One of my favorite parts of that first garden was the flower bed we built around a large tree that cast the prettiest dappled shade across the yard. Hanging from the trunk was my cousin’s old childhood tire swing, and somehow the whole space felt nostalgic, peaceful, and alive all at once.

That little yard taught me something important: gardening isn’t about perfection. It’s about creating spaces that make people feel something. Spaces that make people want to gather.

Family Roots

Gardening Runs in My Blood

“Gardens are something you build slowly, season after season.”

Gardening has always been part of my story.

My father was born on a farm in Naples before immigrating to America when he was just six years old, and so much of my love for gardening came directly from him. Growing up, he would take me on nature walks, teaching me the names of plants, flowers, and trees along the way.

Some of my earliest memories are tied to being outside with him — digging in the dirt, watching things bloom, and learning that gardens are something you build slowly, season after season.

Peonies — or as my dad calls them, “Chinese pom poms.” Hostas. Bearded blue iris. Orange daylilies that almost everyone on Long Island insists on calling tiger lilies, even though they are definitely not the same thing. (Don’t worry, we’ll absolutely be discussing that later.)

The Soul of a Gardener

One of the biggest lessons my dad unknowingly passed down to me is that the real soul of gardening is generosity.

My favorite thing about gardening isn’t even buying plants — it’s giving them away. Honestly, you could compliment the most expensive plant in my garden, but if I can divide it, propagate it, or dig up a piece for you, chances are I’m already grabbing a shovel.

That’s the real soul of a gardener.

We share cuttings. We divide perennials. We propagate hydrangeas. We hand people pots full of seedlings and send them home with dirt in their trunk. We pass plants between friends and family like little living heirlooms.

That generosity has followed my dad everywhere.

When I was in fifth grade, my dad gave my piano teacher a clipping from his fig tree. It was just a simple cutting wrapped up and passed along the way gardeners always do — casually, like sharing plants is the most natural thing in the world.

Fast forward more than twenty years later, and I randomly ran into that same piano teacher. Before we even talked about lessons or school or anything else, the very first thing she mentioned was the fig tree.

She still had it.

Twenty-plus years later, that little clipping was still growing.

I think about that story all the time because it perfectly captures what gardening really is. Plants outlive moments. They carry memories. A cutting passed between people can become part of someone’s home, someone’s family, someone’s life for decades.

“When I was in fifth grade, my dad gave my piano teacher a clipping from his fig tree. It was just a simple cutting wrapped up and passed along the way gardeners always do — casually, like sharing plants is the most natural thing in the world.”

What You’ll Find on Cheeky Garden

And now I get to watch that love of gardening continue with my daughter.

She’s almost three years old now and absolutely loves helping me water the plants every day — and honestly, the extra help is appreciated. When she first learned to talk, I used to ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, and without hesitation she would say, “A planter,” or “grow plants.”

And somehow, at almost three years old, she’s still sticking to her story.

Watching my dad take her on the same nature walks he once took me on honestly feels like life coming full circle.

The Hydrangea Obsession

Then we bought our first house.

And that’s when Cheeky Garden truly took root.

The day after we moved in, we opened the front door to find my dad already outside planting tulip bulbs for the following spring between the annuals that would soon fade for the season. It was October, and that moment perfectly captures what gardening has become in my life — something deeply connected to family, tradition, creativity, and home.

I quickly fell in love with perennial gardening and pollinator-friendly planting. Throughout the seasons, we filled beds with evergreen trees, bulbs, flowering shrubs, and layers of blooms designed to create a rolling bloom cycle from spring through fall.

And then came the hydrangeas.

It all started with one hydrangea hedge — technically just three plants. We still don’t fully know what variety they are, but after way too much research, I think they may actually be Fire Light hydrangeas, which are surprisingly hard to find.

Those three hydrangeas completely changed me.

They sparked what has now become a full-blown obsession. At last count, I have around 65 hydrangeas on my property, which feels both impressive and slightly unhinged.

And yes, there will absolutely be another blog post breaking down every hydrangea variety growing in my yard.

Gardening in Zone 7 & Zone 5

One of the things that makes Cheeky Garden unique is that I garden in two completely different worlds.

Most of my home garden is located on Long Island in Zone 7, where I focus on hydrangeas, ornamental perennials, pollinator gardens, privacy landscaping, and outdoor living spaces.

Then in 2022, my dad and uncle purchased a hunting and leisure property in upstate New York — a rugged 62-acre mini mountain with a barn and home built in 1890, located in Zone 5.

Since then, it has become one of my favorite creative projects.

What started as raw land has slowly evolved into a peaceful outdoor retreat thanks to my imagination and my father and uncle’s hard labor. We installed a gorgeous pond surrounded by layered garden plantings, built a DIY gravel fire pit area for cool mountain nights, and even created a heated, filtered stock tank pool that somehow feels both rustic and luxurious at the same time.

We also added a bridge built from the flatbed of an old Mack truck to cross the creek into the property, and honestly, the whole place feels a little magical.

We’ve also started building what I hope will eventually become a self-sustaining permaculture orchard. We’ve planted fruit trees with the goal of creating a space that is not only beautiful, but productive — something that grows, evolves, and gives back year after year.

Getting to garden in both Zone 7 and Zone 5 has completely changed the way I think about plants, outdoor living, and nature itself. The challenges are different. The seasons feel different. Even the gardens tell different stories.

And honestly? I love that.

What You’ll Find on Cheeky Garden

Cheeky Garden is where I share all of it:

Gardening projects and seasonal inspiration
Outdoor styling and backyard transformations
Hydrangeas, pollinator plants, and perennial gardening
DIY outdoor spaces and cozy entertaining ideas
Zone 7 suburban gardening and Zone 5 mountain gardening
Cottage-style landscaping and outdoor living
Lessons learned, garden experiments, and realistic garden progress over time

Most importantly, I want this space to feel approachable, inspiring, and a little cheeky.

You do not need a perfect yard, a massive budget, or professional landscaping to create something beautiful. Sometimes all it takes is a few plants, a little vision, and the willingness to get your hands dirty. Whether you’re here for hydrangeas, cottage gardens, outdoor living inspiration, DIY projects, or simply to follow along with someone who buys too many plants, I’m so happy you’re here.