The cottage garden concept is said to date back to over 150 years ago, emerging during the Victorian era. Allotments were very popular during this time, and many were actually attached to houses rather than centralised in a communal green space. This allowed people to grow a variety of flowers and produce, creating a very informal style of gardening that was completely tailored to the owner. The cottage garden was then immortalised and romanticised by painters such as Helen Allingham, and became a regular fixture on postcards and in children's books.