I generally prefer the singles. There are a few things though that just don't add much to the garden color wise because they are singles, on those I prefer the double. Overall I want my cottage garden to resemble one that my grandmothers would have gardened in.

I think a lot of people tend to prefer something "fancier" or "frillier" and a lot of the times, I do like frilly things... but simple, single things can be just as beautiful in their own way. There's something clean and fresh and friendly about a single bloom.

Like the simple form of a spuria iris compared to a TB... both are pretty in different ways.

I think a single wild looking rose is just as lovely as a fully double old-fashioned David Austin-style. :)

awayuki:
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I always lean to the simpler, old fashioned flowers.

I have roses in all forms and many of them are singles. So I do love them but not only them. I like the single old fashioned hollyhocks mostly but the new ones I bought to try are semi doubles. In lilies, no I do not like the doubles. And I have very, very few double daylilies, too fussy for my taste.

I don't even try to make it look like it could be my grandmothers garden, I like the new improved look of many of todays modern varieties. Truthfully, I have no set rules. I just pick what I like.

I love old-fashioned roses, which include the single bloom. The Trier roses I put in the fairy garden look a lot like the picture above, but the flowers are smaller. Also got a Darlow's Enigma and some Veilchenblau ramblers. We have a lot of wild pink roses (Rosa Woodsii) around the farm. I would love to dig some up and transplant them in front of the lilac hedge, but that may be a project for next year.

It's nice to have a combination, so with the singles, I also have Fantin Latour, some damasks, gallicas and some pretty fluffy hybrid musks :)

As for hollyhocks, I want to try some this year (probably single) and would love to find some cleome...but I haven't seen any for sale yet.

I'm a purist and dont' much care for the idea of a double daylily or coneflower or hollyhock. Just doesn't make sense for man to have to interfere with nature so much in the flower kingdom.

I'm another one that tends to prefer singles in many cases. Hollyhocks are the ones that most bother me as doubles - to me, doubles look like those paper flowers that decorate wedding cars! Only single hollyhocks to be found here... I have lately fallen in love with single peonies. I added several to the garden last year and one this spring. I'm axiously waiting for the buds to open. The first time I saw a single peony in a neighbour's garden, I wasn't sure what it was!

I'm not all that partial to the single roses as they look too much like the wild ones that grow here. So while they are pretty I'd think twice before paying good money for a single rose. However I do like the old-fashioned hollyhocks. I also suspect they are tougher plants. I've had great difficulty growing the 'fancy' hollyhocks altho had no trouble with the singles. I like the ruffled tulips and IMO the double geraniums are an improvement over the old plain insignificant ones. I guess for me it depends on the plant and I don't mind that hybridizers improve on plants altho some I don't consider an improvement but I don't have to buy those.

However I have had the thought to do an old fashioned garden but I know I couldn't keep it 'pure'. I do like to let some plants self-seed and the 'improved' ones probably won't come true so I'll always keep some of my 'weeds'. I like having some plants that may have been grown hundreds of years ago in a cottage garden.

I usually prefer the single's over the doubles. There are a few exceptions
like roses, the singles and doubles are beautiful.

I like some of each, however I am drawn to most singles because of their overall oldfashioned tendancies!

I just like to see it all mixed having. Having some singles planted amongst doubles adds variety. I think it all creates a really interesting picture to have them interplanted. When I see a brand new double form on the market I often have a knee-jerk reaction of, "Ewwww," but generally I like them both.

Mainly I like scent. If having a double gets rid of scent then I go for the single. But, sweet smelling doubles are as good as singles for me!

And for peonies, I only want the big, full, odiferous doubles!

For me, I also try to remember that some double flowers are too "fluffy" for the bumblebees to get into. I depend on them for most of my pollination, so some doubles are okay, as long as I have a lot of open flowers for them to use...and the lavender, of course :)

I am not biased. I like singles and doubles equally in pretty much everything ;-)
CMK

I tend to lean more towards singles in my garden but do like the look of most double flowers when I see them. Double daylilies and echinacea look a bit odd to me. I do like double peonies, but they do require staking. Woodyoak, if you're looking for single peonies I would highly recommend 'Scarlet O'Hara'. No staking required and a beautiful very dark pink, but not quite red.

I love any hollyhock since I have no luck with them! And I don't think there is a rose out there that isn't beautiful either single or double.

I love all types of flowers but if I was pinned down to having to choose between singles or doubles I'd definitely choose singles. There is such beauty in their simplicity.

Annette

I love the old-fashioned ones best.
We have lost so many of the old, old flowers that existed over a hundred years ago, flowers that were truly beautiful. Someone had to mess with them, and now many are lost forever. What we have left ought to be saved by us so they don't get lost as well. Yeah, Seed Savers.

Pat wrote:
"I'm a purist and dont' much care for the idea of a double daylily or coneflower or hollyhock. Just doesn't make sense for man to have to interfere with nature so much in the flower kingdom."

That says it all!