What are the Best Cottage Garden Flowers?

 What are the best cottage garden flowers?  Shrubs & plants that just ooze romance & charm!  I have two favorite garden styles: a relaxed French country garden, & a beautiful, flower-filled English cottage garden.  The plants & flowers discussed in this article can work in both garden types: only you’ll have less plants in a French country garden ~ & as many as you can fit in a cottage garden!  English cottage gardens are all about abundance, & packing in as many flowers as you can.

The perfect cottage-style border. Photo: Better Homes & Gardens.

The photo above has tall blue delphiniums rising in the background with pink foxgloves, drought-tolerant Russian sage in the middle, yellow daisies sprinkled throughout ~ & for year-round color: globed boxwoods spaced evenly in the border, with a nice evergreen hedge creating the perfect backdrop.

Great Cottage Garden Flowers…

The main thing to think about when choosing flowers for your cottage garden: are you going with bold, PRIMARY colors (such as red, yellow, orange, & white) ~ or do you prefer a more PASTEL garden palette (pinks, purples, lavenders, white)?  

Wisteria is one of the most romantic flowers on the planet…perfect for a cottage garden.

• CLIMBING VINES:  If you have a pergola, an obelisk, a She Shed, or even simply your house ~ plant a climber beside it to provide interest & add true “cottage” style!  Great cottage climbers include wisteria (my favorite), clematis (comes in tons of varieties), climbing roses (David Austin offers many), climbing hydrangeas, honeysuckle, English ivy, Virginia creepers, or even hops….which is my fastest-growing climber in Zone 6!  It takes over my garden arch in one month (in April/May).  In warmer climates, try calliandria vines: my parents have them in warm Palm Springs ~ not only do they survive, but they stay pretty & green all year long!
• EVERGREENS:  Why do you need evergreens in a cottage garden?  To provide a backdrop for all your colorful plants, & to add structure.  Without evergreens, a cottage garden can look a little messy.  Not to mention: the garden won’t look good for part of the year, when your flowers & shrubs die off.  The best evergreens in my Zone 6 are Emerald Green arborvitae, spruce & pine trees, & boxwoods ~ which work in many gardens & zones.  If you’re unsure about plants that stay green year-round in your climate: go to your local nursery & ask!  Then use them as structured hedges, or sprinkled throughout the garden for a great green background. 
• TREES:  With trees in a cottage garden, which represent a large investment: you want to go for ROMANCE.  Think weeping cherry trees (which can be espallier’ed against a wall or fence), wisteria trees (which will also “weep”), weeping willows (or even native willows, which grow smaller), Japanese cherry trees, flowering dogwoods, & probably the easiest tree to grow in many landscapes: crabapples!  Landscapers like to use crabapples by the home, as their roots don’t get super invasive.  I currently have 4 different crabapples in my yard, & the color they add is tremendous: I’ve got Indian Summer (turns purple/pink), Shotizam (turns fuschia in spring), & 2 Snowdrift crabapples….that turn white in the spring & are SO lovely!  There are loads of crabapple varieties; ask your landscaper or nursery which grow well in your zone. 
• FRUIT TREES:  The original English cottage gardens were designed with various “rooms.”  One of them being the “Kitchen Garden” ~ which provided food for the household.  Because of that, it’s perfectly fine to use fruit trees in your cottage landscape: such as peach trees, apple, fig, lemon, cherry, etc.  They’ll also add spring color with their pretty flowers, & hopefully provide you with fruit at harvest time!
• FLOWERS!!!   Now for the best part: THE FLOWERS!  The sky is pretty much the limit here.  You can plant hydrangeas (panicles are the easiest to grow), any & all kinds of roses, hellebores (great for shade), daisies, sunflowers, violets, dahlias, hollyhocks, peonies, salvia, Russian Sage, lavender, lilacs, catmint (which spread profusely in full sun), geraniums, snapdragons, delphiniums, foxgloves….& the list goes on & on!  Like I said: the sky is the limit.
• ACCENTS:  This is also the fun part!  You can create immediate interest in the garden by adding a beautiful trickling fountain, a loveseat bench that looks out over your favorite flowers, garden arches, a pond, obelisks or pretty trellises for your vines to climb, raised garden beds (to make sure that you have the best soil for flowers), or a lovely outdoor dining area….that’s set in the middle of the garden.  Great outdoor heaters or fire pits also help create that cozy ambience which is the essence of the cottage garden.

Elements like fountains add a calming focal point amidst all the delightful chaos. Photo: Homes & Gardens.

Photos of Beautiful Cottage Garden Flowers

Creamy roses with an evergreen backdrop.

Incrediball white hydrangeas look amazing in a woodland-style cottage garden.

Pink roses peeking through a worn fence…

Dahlias.

Because cottage gardens can get expensive: consider buying wildflower seeds, & creating a more natural look.

Pink peonies…

Clematis vines climb up an old English home.

A mainly evergreen cottage garden in Guatemala…of all places!

What to Plant in a Cottage Garden?

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