Hollyhocks
Foxglove
Larkspur
Zinnias
Naturiums
Salvias
Daisyies
Petunias
Roses
Clematis
Manarda
Lillies

I have a ton more but since you wanted 12 - those are probably my favorites :):).....

Lynne

Roses, clematis, foxgloves (the white digitalis purpurea 'alba' looks stunning with old-fashioned roses), dianthus (cottage pinks), campanulas (punctata 'Sarastro' is a favorite), hardy geraniums (love Johnson's Blue, Rozanne, Phillipe Vapelle, Mrs. Kendall Clark, etc), lavenders (Hidcote and Munstead), artemesia (Silver Mound for front of border and Powis Castle for mid), Helianthemum 'Wisley Pink', asters, primulas, and bluebells.

For Cottage
Hollyhocks
Roses
Wisteria
Hydrangeas
Foxglove
Daisies
Bachelor buttons
Poppies
Nasturtium
Angel trumpet
Sweetpeas
Royal ensign

For butterfly & bee Cottage
Cosmos
Mexican torch
Milkweed
Butterfly bush
Lemon tree
Passion vine
Bee balm
Salvia
Spanish lavender
English lavender
Mint
Yarrow

Milkweed
Plumbago
Brazilian plume
Rudbeckia hirta
Echinacea
Salvia guaranitica
Jacob Cline Monarda
Vitex
Mexican Flame vine
Passionvine
Lantana
Firespike

I made a longer list and then defended the best 12.

1) Camellias -- winter bloom

2) Daffodils -- My very fav.

3) Loropetalum -- blooms before, with and after Azaleas and again in August

4) Dianthus -- Long bloom period, butterfly magnet

5) Hydrangeas -- Spring and summer staple; white, pink or blue; lacecap, mophead or panicle.

6) Daylilies -- in a pinch, butterflies will 'dive' in a daylily bloom.

7) True Lilies -- I look forward to every lily in the garden.

8) Echinacea -- edged out all the rest of the daisy shapes.

9) Lantana -- edged out Pentas and Porterweed for butterflies. Most dependable return and longer bloom period.

10. Gingers -- what I grow instead of Hostas

11. Salvias -- S. leucantha is my fav, it blooms best in fall

12. Gardenias -- edged out Roses because you can make an evergreen hedge of gardenias and I had crossed off Boxwood already.

Nell

Valerian
Peonies
Roses
Iris
Painted Daisies
Echinacea
Black Eyed Susans
Sweet Peas
Daisies
Malva
Delphiniums
Rose Campion

Daisies of any kind
delphinium
roses, roses, roses
succulents (I'm having good luck with the succulent pots this year!!)
rudbeckias - especially tall kinds
ratibida
gaillardia
columbine
Salvia
iris

Salvia
Cosmos
4 O'Clocks
Coneflower
Lantana
Sweet Peas
Pincushion flower
Esperanza
Plumbago
Verbena
Zinnias
Periwinkle

Marilyn

Another baker's dozen (subject to change):

Mexican mint marigold for its wonderful anise scent
plumbago for its all summer long sky blue flowers
purple coneflower for the spikeyness of its seedheads
oakleaf hydrangea for its leaf color in the winter
lavender for its perfect roundness
field poppies (which I haven't managed yet) for being RED
Country Girl chrysanthemums--consolation for summer ending
cosmos because they're so easy
fennel for the BST caterpillars
confederate jasmine for its scent and for being evergreen
cat mint for the kitties
wax myrtle because it makes a lovely small tree
lemon grass to make tea

Alyssum
Columbine
Foxgloves
Larkspur
Lavender
Lilacs
Lilies
Phlox
Poppies
Roses
Sweetpeas
Violets

I forgot some : ) Second string...

Cardinal climber
Clematis
Daffodils
Francoa
Geum
Johnny jump ups
Monarda
Nasturtium
Oakleaf hydrangea
Orange tree
Peony
Rosemary
And a new one just blooming, coreopsis tinctoria red : )

How's that for cheating?

Deb and others, cheat all you want, this is great. Behind the shed, on the other side of the path I have two little garden beds divided by an old bench with arbor. At the back of these two patches is a 6' fence which does throw shade on the back of the beds. There use to be a huge Clem. Tangutica on the fence, I cut it to the ground this spring, it's coming back and I'll try to keep a better handle on it, so that it doesn't throw so much shade. I'm guessing now, both these beds are roughly eight by ten feet, with the help of your lists I'm going to try and revamp it, says she who has to plant everything in the wrong place at least twice before she can say by jove, I think you've finally got it old girl. If you think of any more, feel free.

Annette

I don't have a list since my gardens are so young but I just wanted to pick your brain a little Annette if you don't mind.
I'm intrigued by other people's planting processes as compared to mine. I'm such a new gardener with small successes along the way, it's so interesting to me to hear how others go about creating their gardening spaces.
So, now that you have an idea and a list full of plants, what's your next step? Will you go buy them all at your local nursery, will you grow them from seed beginning this fall? Will this be an ongoing project over a length of time or will you tackle the whole thing at once and then go back and tweak it?
Forgive all the questions over what may be a very obvious process to a seasoned gardener. :-)
Stephanie

my favorites:
1.daisies (shastas, whirrel, crazy, etc)
2.echinacea
3.foxgloves (which i have a hard time growing)
4.nasturtiums
5.thyme
6.phlox (creeping and tall varieties)
7.alyssum
8.bearded iris
9.hollyhock

10. tomatoes (although they go in the veggie bed but i tend to find little happy surprises around the other beds)
11. hostas
12. lilies (including daylillies)

Roses and hollyhocks times 12! : ) The rest will vary according to your zone but you gotta have those two!

Diana

Stephanie, I'm being serious now, before I started this garden I read a lot of good garden books by very experienced gardeners, lots of gardening magazines too. this is where I got a lot of my inspiration, to be honest the whole garden came about by trial and error, many of the plants have been acquired from going to numerous plant sales. This is where you find some really great plants that you don't usually find in garden centers.
From the plants listed above I'm going to make a list first with the ones I think will grow well in my zone, then it will be the colors I like, then I'll try to pick from this list some different heights and textures that I think might look good together. I will probably start a few seeds and hit the garden centers for the must haves.
This will be an ongoing process for me, what doesn't work will come out and I'll try something else, Needless to say the garden club that I belong to has ended up with a lot of my plants at their annual plant sale.
To me a garden is never finished it keeps evolving over time some plants stay, some go. I'm not one for instant gratification.
Gardening to me is one of life's greatest pleasures. I've been gardening for a good many years, the more I think I know, the more I find I don't, still learning.

Annette

1. Hydrangeas
2. Lilies
3. Gardenias
4. Roses
5. Holly Fern
6. Confederate Jasmine
7. Acanthus Mollis
8. Sago Palm
9. Saucer Magnolia

10. Brugmansia
11. Calla Lily
12. Curcuma Elata

I agree, Annette. The more you learn, the more you have to build on. My gardening improved when I started reading books specific to the environment where I garden. Garden books specific to Atlanta and the upper south are less helpful to me than those written by Coastal South Gardeners.

I'm growing
Bulbine
Pride of Barbados
Tecoma stans (Esperanza)
Vitex
-- all Texas Superstars, I already grew Vitex, but this year I tried cutting them back the way TAMU recommends and was very pleased.

Summer bulbs:
Amaryllis -- I'm growing these from seed now.
Crocosmia
Abyssinian gladiolus (Acidanthera) -- blooms with Mexican Bush Sage in the fall.

Figs and Peaches (my "Persian Garden")

Society Garlic
Gaillardia -- the perennial
Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus rosea)

Nell

12 plants I want in my cottage garden (that say "cottage garden to me"):

1. Daisies
2. Hollyhocks
3. Foxgloves
4. Forget-me-Nots
5. Old fashioned roses
6. Feverfew
7. Boxwood
8. Iris, including Siberian
9. Lilies

10. Delphiniums
11. Coneflowers
12. Jasmine

12 plants I actually have (favorites) in my cottage garden:

1. Daisies
2. Old fashioned roses
3. Boxwood
4. Iris, including Siberian
5. Lilies
6. Star jasmine
7. Gardenias
8. Hydrangeas
9. Cosmos

10. Daylilies
11. Peonies
12. Salvias

Hey, you said we could cheat :-)

bloominganne

Here are my picks (in no particular order):

1. violets
2. Old Garden Roses
3. Foxglove
4. Clematis
5. Daffodils
6. Scabiosas
7. Peonies
8. Phlox
9. Zinnias

10. Irises
11. Coneflowers
12. Yarrow

1. Lilies
2. Tall phlox
3. Foxgloves
4. Roses
5. Clematis
6. Hollyhocks
7. Iris
8. Poppies
9. Painted Daisy

10. Bee Balm
11. Daylilies
12. Columbine

I'll give it a go...

Rose
Hollyhock
Sunflower
Columbine
Foxglove
Dianthus
Scabiosa
Nicotiana
Viola
Delphinium
Lupine

and, you said plants, not just flowers, so

Tomato

That should be twelve and it was hard to get it there. I had to widdle that list more than once before I posted it.

Steven

There are soooo many wonderful plants out there, and I'm growing lots of them for the first time this year, but so far my only real absolutely-have-to-haves are nasturtiums (everywhere there's free space), lavender (there can never be too much lavender), and malva (the first plant that ever dazzled me in my early gardening years). Depending on how this year goes my list may be much longer next year!

Steven, you didn't have to widdle down your list, go for it, I see you have scabiosa on your list, I just picked up an identified plant at our last garden club plant sale, can't wait till it blooms, me thinks I've found a Cephalaria giganea (sounds like a dreadful disease) this guy looks like a very tall, creamy scabious, keeping my fingers crossed.

Annette

hollyhocks
foxgloves
delphinium
peony
lupines
dahlia
salvia
zinnia
balloon flowers
nicotania sylvestris
morning glories
cobea

Oops, there goes my spelling again, the plant mentioned above is Cephalaria gigantea. These are wonderful lists, many of the plants mentioned I have grown in the past but had completely forgotten about. I'm sure I'm not the only one who will make use of them.

Annette

I can't help but notice that foxgloves are on most of our lists! :-)

Here's my favorites:

Nepeta--blooms everywhere..sun, shade, grows like crazy and looks good most of the summer.

perennial geraniums--I like Johnson's Blue and Rozanne best but I really haven't met one I don't like. Perfect for spilling over my paths

Salvia--Great colors and intense color. I wish I could get them to rebloom more.

Zinnias--the kind that come in the cheap WalMart box. Says they should be 24" high. Mine are always about 36-40. Can't beat the impact for the price.

White Alysum--great edging plant that helps tie the garden together. I wish there were a perennial version of this plant for my zone.

Peonies--Their blooms are fleeting but oh so pretty. I like the leaves in my flowerbeds the rest of the summer.

Oriental Lilies--Oh, my the scent. It fills my yard and the whole neighborhood.

Lamb's ears---Soft grey green leaves make great edging.

Clematis--I love vertical flowers!

Wave Petunias--I use the dark purple in my window boxes. They always look great and they smell good too.

Cosmos--I love the soft, floatiness of them. They look great in vases.

And finally, Purple cone flowers. I actually like the white and the purple. Far more reliable than daisies and they bloom all summer.

Hmmm.

Sunflowers - so pretty, so many different shapes and colours, there is a sunflower for every space in the garden.

Lavender - I agree, there can never be too much lavender!

Roses - classic, and again, with all the varieties, heights and colours, you can find the perfect rose for any area.

Delphiniums - if you can get them to grow in your area, they are some of the most spectacular blooms you'll see.

Hollyhocks - oldies but goodies, wouldn't be without them.

Clematis - again, there is a clematis for every occasion and they go so well with roses, fences, small vertical areas that need an accent . . .

A Vine of some sort - canary creeper, sweet pea . . .

Many more that have already been mentioned I'm sure. I'm trying Salvia for the first time this summer!

If EKS 6426 hadn't said,
"White Alysum--great edging plant that helps tie the garden together. I wish there were a perennial version of this plant for my zone." --
I wouldn't have thought of candytuft, Iberis sempervivens.

I read it's hardy to zone 3. It makes mounds of green and the blossoms are round heads of little blooms just a little larger than candytuft. It's a great edger. Mine came from cuttings off a neighbor's plants, years ago. She's deceased now, so it's a nice memorial to her and her pretty gardens.

Nell

My 12 favorite plants are:

1 Delphinium
2 Roses
3 lilies
4 clematis
5 foxglove
6 irises
7 lungworts
8 virginia bluebells
9 asters
10 lupine

I have 2 more...

poppies - I don't know what I'd do without poppies!
love in a mist -(Get seed from Thompson & Morgan...)

Oh a few more!!

Liatris
Russian Sage
Fuschias
Salvia

Hydrangeas ( I wish my zone would allow me to have more)
Tall Garden Phlox (I love Phlox and would have more except I hate mildew problems)

This is my first year growing Dahlias, calla lilies, and gladiolus from bulbs (I'm excited watching them come up so far...)

Mmm, I forgot Russian Sage but that's a staple as well.

I'm trying Gladiolas for the first time this summer as well.

Vitex -- all Texas Superstars, I already grew Vitex, but this year I tried cutting them back the way TAMU recommends and was very pleased.

Nell, are you talking about clipping spent flower heads or something else?

Natal:
I'm talking about cutting my vitex 'trees' back to about 6 or 8 inches from the ground. They've grown back as thick, bushy plants and are only a little behind the two I left as controls (and because I couldn't bear to cut them all back, even if TAMU said). They're growing fast.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Vitex at TAMU

Let's see..
1.Foxgloves
2.hollyhocks
3.black-eyed-susans (my fav)
4.daisies
5.salvias
6.rosemary
7.asters
8.monarda
9.irises
10.herbs (already mentioned rosemary)
11.old garden roses
12.purple cone flower

I love to go with plants that that will reseed themselves. Very cost effective and helps to fill things out fairly quickly.
Meghan

Nell, I have to cut one of mine back to a few feet late winter, because it's planted near the house. The one I grew from a cutting I'm letting take tree form to help provide some screening. I'm happy with the blooms I get just from clipping the spent flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:673670}}

This is a great thread to read. Thank you to everyone that posted here, I'm learning so much! We're creating an English style cottage garden area in our front yard. Its eighteen inches deep on the inside of our custom built spindle white picket fence. The area the plants are contained in what I refer to as "the picket zone". To see pics of our recent gardening projects and some of the 108 roses we grow here, ck out my Picture Trail:

careytearose

Here is a link that might be useful: look at Landscaping Projects, Favourite ROSES We Grow albums

I'm wondering where the 12 number came from? why 12? why not 9, 13 or perhaps........3? LOL

My picks(perennials only):

Ornamental grasses! - I could list 12 varieties of these and be done with the list.
Coreopsis ' Moonbeam'
Salvia 'Blue Hills'
Foxglove
Lavender
Peony
Catmint - my fav is 'Six Hills Giant'
Penstemon
Geranium
Clematis
Roses(climbing and shrub)
Allium
Hollyhock - this makes 13, but I almost forgot it.

Man, 12(13?) is nowhere near enough. Too many good plants not getting their due.

SCRAP THE TWELVE, GO FOR IT!!!

Annette

Not a scientific count, but here's what I determined the top favs to be:

Roses -8
Daisies -6
Delphiniums/Larkspur -6
Echinacea -6
Foxgloves -6
Hydrangeas/Oakleaf Hydrangeas -6
Lilies -6
Salvia -6
Rudbeckia hirta/black eyed Susans -5
Clematis -4
Daffodils/Tulips/Muscari -4
Hollyhocks -4
Lavender -4 Â includes English and Spanish
Nasturtium -4
Peonies -4
Sweet Peas -4
Brugmansia/Datura -3
Cosmos -3
Dianthus -3
Iris -3
Lantana -3
Phlox -3
Poppies -3

These would make a stunning garden, heavy on spring bloom. There were many more with two votes each, if you'd like the whole list, LMK.

Nell

These do well for me. I have found the ones that do the best in my climate. I love foxglove but haven't had much luck with them. These are my favorites:

Roses (mostly old garden roses)
snapdragons
purple coneflower
phlox
ox alis (not sure about the spelling!)
iris
lillies
hardy hibiscus
laura bush petunias
clematis
red autumn sage
verbena
sunflowers
and I am sure there are quite a few others, but these are the ones who come to mind right now. Vicki

Lol - I haven't responded, because with the move, I realized that hardly anything is a Must Have for me! I only brought a small handful of things from the old garden, actually.

But, Roses are definitely a Must Have...

Oh, yeah, there were two votes for Mexican Hats/ratibida.

I didn't put them on my list, but I should have. I remember the first time I saw them in someone's yard in a housing project. I knew from a distance what they were and I'd only seen them in catalogs. I have some that survived the winter and now the drought and they're just such happy flowers.

Vicki, most everything on your list, I grow except for red sage. Laura Bush petunias are high on my list.

Nell

roses
clematis
coreopsis
zinnias
marigolds
phlox
shasta daisy
red and blue salvia
blue daze
begonias
mexican daisy
pentas
dianthus
bush daisy
gladioli
lady slipper
nasturtium
chrysanthemum

Only 12? OK these are my Must Haves
Roses
Foxglove Camelot for Full Sun
Hardy Geranium
Coneflowers
Verbascum
Campanula
Scabiosa
Lupine
Asgastache
Salvia
Clematis
Catmint for my kitty
Most of these have survived in my full sun garden

I might wind up filling my clippings file with all of these lists! These are wonderful reading.

I'm only starting, but so far I have the "bones" of one garden, and am planning another. This is what I have in the ground already:

Roses
Lillies (I have Casa Blanca, Stargazer, and one pale pink I cannot remember)
Lilacs
Peonies
Columbine
Astilbe

And, from what I have been reading about before these lists, these are what I have been planning on:

Echinacea
Scabiosa
Daffodils
Lavender
Shasta daisy
Monarda

I have to go through the lists above a little more...and then, maybe buy another backyard...

Emmie

Thanks everyone, I'm sure these lists are going to be of help to others as well as myself. It's really nice seeing what everybody is growing, different zones different plants, some I can't grow in the ground but some I can grow in a container for a punch of color then put in the greenhouse for winter protection.
From all the contributions Nell has done a survey of what the top 12 plants for a cottage garden are, the ones with the most votes seem to be the favorites, this will be a big help to anyone starting out with a blank slate. It also helps those of us that are still looking for good choices to add to our cottage gardens.
If anyone thinks of more to add to this list feel free to do so. I have got some of the plants mentioned above, I'll be selecting more from these lists to add to my garden. I'll post a picture if and when it looks half decent.

Annette

The backbone of the cottage garden was roses, herbs and veggies. I have trouble growing any veggies as the birds eat them, so I substituted blueberry bushes, another the birds love and mahonia shrub which makes beautiful "grapes" and has delightful foliage. But herbs and roses are fairly easy, especially the climbing roses.