Part 2: How to Plan and Execute a Cottage Garden: Selecting Your Plants

I am so excited for phase two of planning and executing an enchanting cottage-style garden! Today, we are selecting plants that embrace the informal, free-flowing style of a true cottage garden. It’s important to choose a mix of flowers, herbs, shrubs, roses, and even vegetables if you wish. In case you missed it, check out Part 1 here. Stay tuned for Part 3 next week!

The goal is to select plants that will bloom at different times, ensuring continuous color throughout the season. Keep in mind that average bloom times vary depending on the plant, but most perennials bloom for 2–4 weeks. For example, I will be planting coneflowers because pollinators love them, and they have an extended bloom time of 8–12 weeks. Others, such as peonies, may only bloom for 1–2 weeks. I’ve listed the plants I’ve chosen for my next cottage garden project with Jackson & Perkins and why they are a great fit below.

1) Focus on classic cottage garden plants.

• Flowers- Roses, delphiniums, foxgloves, phlox, iris, geranium
• Herbs-Chives, Lavender
• Shrubs- Hydrangeas, lilacs, viburnum and peonies
• Climbers- clematis, sweet peas and roses

I do love certain plant combinations and even though they are not necessarily classic cottage flowers, I love the whimsy and pollinators they add to my garden space. They are nepeta, dahlias, veronica and verbena.

2) Think about color
Color palette is important to me and I am partial to pastels in the shades of pinks, purples and whites. A true cottage garden is known for its harmonious palette but if those colors are not your style, you can pair pastel shades with a bold pop of color. Remember, cottage style celebrates abundance and informality.

3) Attract Pollinators
I also like to include plants like, Coneflower, Salvia, Millenium alliums and cosmos to invite bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to my garden.

4) Plan for Planting when ordering
It is important when ordering your plants that you plan for tall plants and shrubs for the back of the bed or the center for circular bed in my plan roses, viburnum and lilac. Mid-sized for the middle and in front of taller plants. I will be using phlox, coneflower, salvia and others. For low-growing or border plants, I will be using nepeta, veronica and geranium. Finally, you need climbers. I will be using climbing roses and clematis. I like to plant is groups but you don’t have to with a cottage style. When I do plant in odd numbers I always plant in odd numbers. For this order, I ordered three saliva and three veronica,

Last year, I shared my whole cottage garden plant list that you can find here.

For my next project, here is my plant order from Jackson and Perkins. Links and pictures are below!

• Rose- Louis Odier Bourbon Rose
• Climbers –Eden Climber Pretty in Pink, Kiss Me Kate Arborose, Clematis
• Flowers- Phlox Candy Stripe, Iris Cherry Blossom, Geranium Dragon Heart, Paeonia “Do Tell” Peony, Nepata Cat’s Pajamas, Veronica Atomic Ray Mix Speedwell, Veronica Perfectly Picasso
• Pollinator Flowers- Echinacea PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower, Salvia Rose Marvel, Millennium Allium

Don’t forget you can use my code OLDCASTLE15 for 15% off your total purchase.