Cottage Garden Plants

Growing cottage garden plants is actually a very simple kind of exercise. And I invite you to think of it in simplistic ways. Oh yeah, garden designers will sell you darn near anything but the reality is that the simpler, the easier the better when it comes to growing and designing the cottage garden.

There is absolutely no reason why you can't design your own cottage garden.

The plants available to the old-time gardeners were the simplest of plants. They were plants that survived no matter what (daylilies, peonies, astilbe, hosta) conditions came down the pipe.

They were also plants that self sowed (cosmos, corn poppies, Verbena bonariensis, sweet alyssum) so gardeners had to weed out the abundance rather than plant every year.

They were fragrant. Think mockorange, lilac, roses and you're on the right track.

Think plants that you could collect and save seed from (asters, marigolds, zinnia)

The plants were those that slipped easily (geraniums, fuschia, coleus)

They were all crowded together without a formalized garden plan. Making garden plans for perennial and annual gardens in "borders" only become popular in Edwardian England with Gertrude Jekyll and her perennial borders.

Up to that point, a cottage garden was the specialty of the poor (who lived in cottages) and squeezed as many plants into the space as possible (they didn't have much land) to give a riotous mix of color and scent.

The gardeners loved their gardens and spent time out there. They had to or the crowded conditions would lead to disease problems. Maintenance was high in these crowded gardens but it was done with love.

So my .02 on cottage garden plants is that you can grow anything you like in your very own garden. The trick is to grow 'em, save 'em, share 'em and love each and every one.

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