Plants for a Cottage Garden

I love the whole cottage look. From the romantic informal English garden to the picket fence, there is something so appealing about this style. In my opinion, here are my top 5 Plants for a Cottage Garden. These will give you that English Garden feel and look.
I’ve always tried to duplicate the English Cottage Garden look for my yard and love all the plants and flowers to choose from. Besides adding a lot of boxwood shrubs, I’m sharing with you all my favorite classics for that cottage-style garden. Here are 10 plants that keep mosquitos away which is also helpful when planning your garden.

In addition to the 5 plants listed below, here are a few of my projects in our backyard.

5 Plants for a Cottage Garden

These English garden or cottage garden plants I am listing come in many varieties and are all perennials. They will come back year after year and some will multiply.

Hollyhocks Plants

Plants for a Cottage Garden | Hollyhocks for an English Garden | Planting an English Cottage Garden | Classic Plants | TodaysCreativeLife.com

You HAVE to have Hollyhocks!
I have had a love affair with these tall and handsome flowers since I was a girl. Just plant hollyhock seeds and watch them grow! I love how they’ll bloom all summer long and will often reseed themselves. They come in a variety of colors, from a rare black hollyhock variety to the lightest pink. If you’re looking to add some height to your garden, Hollyhocks will not disappoint.

Lavender

Lavender is a great plant that fills up space nicely. Not only does it smell amazing, but you can clip the stems in the fall and dry for other uses.
Lavender comes in many many varieties, from Spanish Lavender, French lavender to English Lavender and a few more. It may surprise you to learn that Lavender isn’t always “lavender” in color. Some varieties come in pink and white. I like to mix the varieties throughout my garden. They’re great for attracting honey bees too.

Daisies

If you want the cottage look to your flower garden, then you’ve got to have a few daisy plants here and there. There’s your traditional daisy in white and yellow, but don’t overlook the colored varieties too.
The Shasta Daisy is my favorite because of its long stems, which are great for cutting and bringing indoors. All English Garden flowers are great to cut for beautiful bouquets.

Delphinium

Similar to the hollyhock in how it shoots straight up, but not nearly as tall.
These beautiful blooms come in shades of purple, blue, pinks and white to help you had dimension to your garden. Delphiniums are easy to start from seed, but you may be able to find small starts at your local nursery.

Hydrangeas

Oh, how we love our Hydrangea flowers! It’s romantic and has old-fashioned charm making them one of the perfect plants for a cottage garden. We used to have 2 very large bushes that would bloom gorgeous blue flowers. It was so full, we were even able to use them to decorate for our wedding. We would often have strangers knocking on our door, asking if they could pick a few. Many hydrangeas are pink, but I’ve heard with the right fertilizer, you can create the colors you’d like. I have also added several creamy white lime lights to our garden.

Obviously, there are many more traditional flowers and plants for a cottage garden to create your dream English Garden, but these 5 low maintenance plants will get you going in the right direction. Many of these can be started from seed, or find young plants at your local nursery.