No joke... I found this on my home page this morning. It must have been an omen that I was to share it with all of you. This their list of "Cottage Garden" plants. If you go to the BH & Garden link find this cottage garden thread it even has lots of info on the particular plant care etc. Very fun stuff and SOOO WELL TIMED!
*Bellflower
This tough perennial produces spikes of white or blue blooms in early and midsummer. Like most cottage garden plants, the flowers are great for cutting.
Name: Campanula percisifolia
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Columbine
Easy to grow and beautiful, columbine blooms in spring and early summer. The colorful blooms are loved by hummingbirds and gardeners alike.
Name: Aquilegia varieties
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Coralbells
In spring and early summer, coralbells produce sprays of pink, red, or white flowers. These flowers are a top choice of hummingbirds.
Name: Heuchera varieties
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Daisy
Daisies offer a simplistic beauty that works well in any cottage garden. Their bright white blooms with sunny yellow centers are perfect for beds and borders, as well as vases.
Name: Leucanthemum varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Dame's Rocket
A beautiful, old-fashioned annual, dame's rocket produces phlox-like clusters of lavender or white flowers in late spring. The flowers are delightfully fragrant.
Name: Hesperis matronalis
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 4-9, depending on variety
Delphinium
Producing stately spires in shades of purple, blue, pink, and white, delphiniums are about as regal as garden flowers come. Unfortunately, taller types need staking to protect them from wind but they're well worth this bit of extra work.
Name: Delphinium varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: 1-6 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-7, depending on variety
Dianthus
Filling cottage gardens with their sweet scents, dianthus varieties also offer pretty blooms in shades of pink, red, and white.
Name: Dianthus varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 3-10, depending on variety
Foxglove
This woodland biennial reliably produces beautiful upright spikes of bell-shape flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. Note: While most common foxgloves are biennial, they often self seed and appear each year in the garden.
Name: Digitalis varieties
Growing conditions: Partial sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: 2-6 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Hollyhock
Among the tallest of perennials, hollyhocks bear flower spikes up to 8 feet tall. They bloom in a wide range of shades -- from nearly black to red, purple, yellow, and white.
Name: Alcea rosea
Growing conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: 4-8 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-9
Hydrangea
A shrub of incomparable beauty, hydrangeas produce large clusters of pink, blue, or white flowers in early summer. They're great for cutting, if you can bear to take them out of your garden.
Name: Hydrangea macrophylla
Growing conditions: Partial sun and moist, well-drained soil
Height: To 6 feet tall
Zones: 6-9
Iris
Iris offer stunning blooms (many are wonderfully fragrant) that come in a rainbow of colors and sizes. Our favorites are the Siberian types with their grassy leaves and graceful flowers.
Name: Iris varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Lavender
A beautifully ornamental herb, lavender bears fragrant foliage and flowers. The blooms typically appear in shades of violet and white and are wonderful for drying and using in sachets and other craft projects.
Name: Lavandula varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 5-8, depending on variety
Lady's Mantle
This great perennial offers sprays of chartreuse blooms perfect for cutting. The foliage is wonderful, too, especially when it catches early morning dewdrops.
Name: Alchemilla mollis
Growing conditions: Part shade and well-drained soil
Height: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 4-7
Peony
With their petal-packed blooms, peonies are some of the most romantic plants. They not only look great, but they bear a wonderful fragrance. And they're virtually pest free and quite drought tolerant.
Name: Paeonia varieties
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 5 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Perennial Geranium
There are a wealth of geraniums perfect for cottage gardens. 'Johnson's Blue' is among the most common; it offers beautiful blue-purple flowers in early summer.
Name: Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
Growing conditions: Full sun or part shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 4-8
Phlox
One of the most brilliant plants of the late-summer garden, phlox produces stunning clusters of white, pink, lavender, and red blooms that bear a delightful fragrance.
Name: Phlox paniculata
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 4 feet, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8
Sweet William
Another biennial that typically self-seeds, sweet William produces beautiful clusters of fragrant blooms in early summer. They're great for cutting, and they attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Name: Dianthus barbatus
Growing conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Height: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Violet
With their edible and fragrant blooms, violets are among the most charming flowers for the cottage garden. These cool-weather lovers start in spring and often bloom again in fall.
Name: Viola varieties
Growing conditions: Partial to full shade and well-drained soil
Height: To 1 foot tall
Zones: 4-8, depending on variety
Enjoy!!
This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 1:59 PM
How do I make it a cottage garden?
I have ALMOST every one of those in my garden! Can you tell I like "cottage"?
Me too! Meredith, I was going to suggest the geranium listed above for in front of the lilies. That can take more sun than the heuchera. My purple heuchera will not tolerate sun, or dryness. There is also a light pink variety of the geranium. Very cottagey color. I love those hyacinth and daffodil beds. I never buy enough of those to create that effect you've got. Also very cottage garden are "bleeding hearts" for shade. I just love these they are sooooo romantic.
wonderearth thank you! I think a geranium is a perfect idea! I am trying to grow some from seed this year, so hopefully they will work out and I can use them in front of my lilies. I still hadn't planted anything that looked quite right there. So this year hopefully I can get it right. At some point last summer I picked one up from HD - Jolly Bee - I planted it in frontof a clematis and it did really well. So now I have confidence I can grow them : )
What is that tall purple flower you have in that large bed. stock verbena?
If we're viewing the same photo I see purple Phlox. Phlox is such a FUN happy fellow! Love it!
poof*
This message was edited Mar 4, 2009 12:28 PM
oh yes! of coarse!
Lol I'm glad you two figured it out on your own : ) Sorry I didn't get here sooner.
Just reread this thread. Early bloomer Ilove your photos! I had a neighbor who had that type of fence and she had some Lady Banks roses planted on them. It was divine in the Spring when they bloomed. Very pretty otherwise too!
just found out that kind of phlox only goes to zone 8, i'm zone 9 : ( Just got some Lady Banks roses though : )
Thanks cactus. I just reread the thread as well and noticed I was going to post a photo of the foxglove and lupines when they bloomed but I never did. Better late then never.........
early_bloomer
Just gorgeous! Definitely has that cottage look. I plant larkspurs and hollyhocks for that vertical look, don't think the foxgloves would like my arid climate like they do.
We get such blasts of little severe wind conditions, anything that beautiful and vertical would be history! I mean, we routinuely have wind conditions that uproot trees so a tall flower has NO chance!
OMG sooo beautiful I am drooling :) Now I can't wait to see lupines bloom. :)
I actually can't grow foxgloves well here, but I am trying some different ones from seed this year .... and I started some red lupines........ I will mostly have blue this year. None of the ones I started from seed did well. Trying them again, my seedlings are the only thing I have to give me my plant fix. :)
Morning!
Better Homes and Gardens link had several "cottage garden" ideas this morning so I thought I'd post them here for everyone.
Both of these are those slide shows, but there are photos and flower ideas that are RIGHT up the alley of this thread.
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/styles/cottage-garden-design-tips/?sssdmh=dm17.371309&esrc=nwsimplestepsgarden4_09&email=311318755
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/styles/how-to-create-an-award-winning-country-garden/?sssdmh=dm17.371309&esrc=nwsimplestepsgarden4_09&email=311318755
Psychw2-
I soooooooooooooooo hear you on tall plants getting blown over! So... I'll share this with you since we also can get some wicked winds. Several years ago the "Becky Daisey" ( http://www.perennialplant.org/ppy/03ppy.htm )was voted plant of the year (it looks like a tall Shasta). I LOVE Shasta's but pulled them all up and gave them away because they ALWAYS laid/broke over eventually (which drives me nuts...lol). Unless I put tomato cages around them the fell over every year. So... I am pleased to report that the "Becky Daisies" have 100% stayed up through thick and thin and high winds here! I've even relocated a few little babies that came up and they have kept the parent plant's mighty will....and they do NOT blow over (NOR DO THE DEER EAT THEM!) They were pretty pricey for awhile but I found them so well worth it! We had a huge wind storm hit us last summer and I was amazed to see them still standing afterward! They are TROOPERS...and super easy. You might try some.
This message was edited Mar 26, 2009 6:20 AM
Great Better Homes and Gardens link! Some good ideas there. I especially like the garden path made from little stones.
Meredith, hope you will follow up with some photos of your cottage garden this spring. And you haven't forsaken your 'butterfly' garden, have you? (I've been away and out of touch for several months, and I've yet to catch up with everyone's gardens).
And one more question for you: can you tell my why you can't grow foxgloves well in your garden? Just wondering.
That stand of foxgloves is to die for, isn't it?!
Happy gardening! t.
all these beautiful photos making me wanna go out and just start scarring seeds everywhere...LOL.. but my Neighbors wold kill me.
I too have that Mulched cottage garden, however, its the area I live in and it looks 'landscaped' and 'cottagy' at the same time. Fine line we gardeners walk
Hey T long time no see : ) It is great to hear from you!! Now way have I forsaken my butterfly garden! My butterfly garden is about 30ft wide and 20ft deep! lol I think I have planted every possible host plant and flower for them I can. : ) So I'm on to my next obsession lol. I am going to make a new garden that hopefully will be my secret garden. It is in a place that you can't see from most of the yard or from the street. I have always loved roses and they were actually the first thing that I planted at my old place - unfortunately I moved the same year I planted them! So this year I am putting in some roses, plus I really need to concentrate on getting a good tomato crop. With all the seedlings I've been planting the last two years I haven't had the time or space for them. The ones I grew last year were about to have an awesome crop and then we got a good frost that froze all the green toms. I should have brought them in but I forgot. About the foxgloves - I started some different ones from seed this year. I am hoping the ones I am having no luck with just aren't a good variety. I think they could possibly not be getting enough sun and my soil is naturally sandy and dry so perhaps I just need to super amend a spot for them. I just don't know if it is worth it for me, because of them being so poisonous I almost think it is better they don't grow well for me. I am trying the 'Alba' this year and an odd one that I think I read somewhere is going to changed from Digitalis species to another. They are called Digitalis obscura and they are supposed to thrive in drier conditions and full sun. They look really pretty in all the pictures I've seen of them and they look like they'd be a hummingbirds delight. I'd like to hear about how your gardens are doing. I always love all your garden photos they are very inspiring! You have done such a wonderful job with them. : )
Thanks, M., for the rundown on your projects! Always like to keep up with what you are up to. I will lurk around where ever you post! I promise!
Now, IMHO, in the cottage garden, don't forget to add some pretty veggies. I read in an English garden mag this month that it's all the rage this year because of the economy (to add some edibles). Not that cottage gardeners haven't always used edibles to beautiful effect, but.... (anything to sell mags.) I went to the Cincinnati Flower Show this week and they had some very strategically placed artichokes in one cottage garden and some interesting vining pea vines over an arbor. Very effective.
Was just out in my garden looking it over and I determined that I'm not going to add any new plants. Just rearrange them for some better composition and color echoes. I thought that it's been 5 years since I moved here and started making our gardens (and since I joined Dave's) and it's taken me that long to get something really effective and artful going here. A long time.
I will be eager to follow your tomato garden, too.
Happy gardening. t.
can I just scatter all these seeds I have received and water and see what grows? I have an area about 15'x 8' oval that is good dirt.
They sure arent growin here in their packet envelopes with me wondering what or how to plant them??
Mmm - I would at least rake up the soil a little bit before scattering the seeds (or am I taking your question too literally?).
Tabasco - I'm adding sweet potatoes to my front yard's landscape - not the ornamental vines, but the real thing, hopefully they'll vine approximately the same way. They do have pretty leaves...
Here's a link to the cottage garden exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. Most of the gardens (on the left) have illustrations. Talk about inspiration! It almost makes me want to move into an itty-bitty, cold, damp stone cottage with no central heat and no indoor plumbing ( yeah, right!).
http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/shows/chelsea2009/courtyard.asp
Oh , it was tilled wel a couple of weeks ago. so could I just scatter, rake in lightly and water and watch?
That is what I would do, don't cover too deeply. I find that and not watering are the beginner mistakes I see most often. : ) Off to check that link!
I just found this link to an article online I thought would be great to share here.
http://www.thegardencottagebnb.com/garden1.pdf
Very nice, thanks!