Plants for a Cottage Garden

So I have been trying to create a cottage garden for at least 12 years. It is a labor of love. When searching for what plants are considered cottage garden plants, much to my surprise, I found most of them now growing in my garden. Maybe not growing all at once in the same year, but most of them. 

What is the first plant you think of in a cottage garden? For me, it is the rose. I have tried roses with success. This rose in particular. It is an old garden rose called Zephirine Drouhin.

Peonies, this one is Sarah Bernhardt. 

Daylilies: this variety grows wild here and lines the roads in the country in late spring. I dug this up and brought it here from my grandmother's house. I don't know its name.

Shasta daisies, which also grow wild here in the summer and they line the highways in the country.

Salvia; this one is Victoria blue. The bumble bees love these! 

Catmint- some of the cats love this.

Violets, which grow wild here also, this clump was volunteer and wild, and I eventually pulled it, but it is beautiful.

Foxglove, I have not successfully kept these going in the yard. I will try again this year.

Hollyhock, I am not sure which one this is. I have completely different ones coming up this year. 

Bachelor's button: these are the classic romantic variety.

Feverfew, this is white wonder. It is an heirloom double feverfew, and it comes back every year.

Dianthus are also called cottage pinks.

 

Chamomile, I just love the herbs, and thankfully, they have been easy to grow. Borage is at the bottom right of this picture.

Lavender, I am not sure which one this is, but fern leaf lavender is really easy to grow from seed. 

Hydrangea, this is not from my yard. I have a small one, but I took this picture on vacation years ago at the Columbia restaurant in St. Augustine, FL. 

The bearded Iris. I have no idea what this is called, but my grandmother gave them to me, and I brought them here and planted them. They used to grow along a fence row in front of my house when I was little.

Calendula, this sort of looks like strawberry blonde, but I am not sure. It also might be flashback or zeolights; they are all similar.

Clematis; this one is Nelly Moser. It has never climbed, but it weaves through this small garden of daylilies and coreopsis.

 

Nasturtium, I believe this is cherry rose.

Ferns, if you have a shady spot, are wonderful. This is a cinnamon fern.

Yarrow, I love this one, it comes back every year, and the fernlike foliage is beautiful.

A geranium in a terra cotta pot. They have to be in the clay pot; it is just a classic! I buy these every year from our local Future Farmers of America greenhouse sale. They do a fantastic job growing these.

Cosmos, I think this is rubenza.

Black eyed susan, this is another plant that grows wild here in the summer and lines the country roads under the partial shade of a tree. This variety is Indian summer.

Zinnias, all of them! You can never have too many zinnias.

Marigolds, dwarf French marigolds are a classic. I also like strawberry blonde. This year, I am hoping to grow white ones.

I also have two lilac bushes, but they have never had their picture taken. I am not sure why.

So these plants are growing this year, and hopefully they will come up. The foxglove and hollyhock were new additions last year. I am also trying sweet peas and echinacea. I have the fondest memory of a sweet pea with a wonderful scent growing every year by an old Victorian home that was on the farm where I grew up, and it has me nostalgically trying to recreate that in my garden.

And be sure if you create your cottage garden to stop and smell the flowers and enjoy the wildlife.

Scenes from my cottage garden. I definitely have Beatrix Potter's eye behind the camera lens. These two little kittens have a story all their own.

In Victory, 
Sherry