skip to main content

Cottage Gardens

Your favorite cottage garden perennials - top 10

13 years ago

I'm creating a new bed and I'm trying to scale down my daylily collection (currently 75) and have it be more diverse.

Besides Roses and Clematis - which I just bought a bunch of clems and will buy more roses, what are your top 10 favorite cottage garden perennials?

Thanks!

Natanya

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (14)

lavender_lass
13 years ago
Wow, good question, but hard to answer.

I guess if I stick to perennials, only, then it would be coneflowers, salvia, lavender, catmint, daisies, rudbeckia, coral bells, bee balm, pansies and sweet woodruff...not necessarily in that order.

I also put lilacs, butterfly bushes, blueberry bushes and peonies in most of my garden beds. I'm hoping that the alyssum I'm using under all the perennials will reseed each year, making it almost like a perennial :)
newyorkrita
13 years ago
Besides Roses, Clematis and daylilies, none of which you making eligable my favorite perennials would have to be
#1 bulb lilies. There are juist so many choices and they don't take up lots of room.
#2 AGASTACHE. Hummingird mint is another name for this fabulous plant. It just keeps on blooming and the flowers and folliage are so pretty.
#3 Walkers Low Catmint. This has got to be the easiest plant in the world. It starts in the spring and never stops bloming with those blue flowers until a hard freeze.
#4 LUPINES. My new crazies this spring. The flowers and colors are so striking and even the folliage is quite attractive.
#5 Siberian Iris. Really works well in a cottage garden. The folliage looks fabulous all the time and the flowers are so pretty. Once established, its no care no fuss.
#6 Upright Sedums. As opposed to the crawly rock garden types. Some facorites of mine are BRILLIANT, PURPLE EMPEROR, MATRONA and LYNDA WINDSOR. Another really easy plant that does very well in sun or mostly shade.
#7 Coneflowers. They come in so many fancy colors these days.

I have to think some more on what else to put on the list.
Related Discussions
My Top Five Perennials from this year's garden, Yours?
Q
Comments (23)
I tend to think in combinations, not limited to individual perennials, and including trees and shrubs. Here are five of my favorites from this year: This one is my top pick - I love the vivid reds of the viburnum berries and Lord Baltimore hardy hibiscus with the cool white of the veronicastrum: Veronicastrum is a fabulous plant that makes striking combinations with many things. It looks great with Russian Sage and hardy hibiscuses but also makes lovely monochrome combinations, as in this pairing with 'White Moth' hydrangeas: This combination of 'Carol Mackie' daphne and forget-me-nots made a nice combination in spring: I'm gradually turning the 'herb bed' on the south side of the driveway into bed focussed on warmer colors. Various red and orange daylilies, peachy roses, Summer Wine ninebark and culinary sage are the key plants. It's difficult to capture it in one picture so here are a couple of shots of parts of it from various angles: (The roses have bright red hips for fall and winter interest so don't get deadheaded...) If you have a damp spot, I highly recommend Astilboides tabularis. It has astile-like flowers in July but you really grow it for the leaves. This shot is from the third week of May, so it's a star early and remains so all summer whether it is in bloom or not (in fact, I often cut off the flowers as they are a distraction from its appearance I think!):
...See More
what are your favorite shrubs in the cottage garden?
Q
Comments (29)
Bumping this up to say that Mountain Laurel is a native here. The seeds are just beginning to mature. If planted on July 4, they will germinate easily. We usually get 100% germination with our seeds, with no preparation at all. They are slow growers, (that is what makes them so expensive) but in my garden, getting fed every once in a while, they put on tremendous growth. I have been astonished at how fast they are growing. The blooms have the fragrance of grape koolaid. If you would like to have seeds, let me know. I am an enabler, I am told. lol Janie
...See More
Perennials! Which are your favorites?
Q
Comments (7)
My snowdrops are blooming!!!!!!! My favorites change with the season. I really love my yellow tree peony and epimedium rubrum, but love everything else when it blooms. When we moved to this house 30 years ago, one bed had several peonies (which still do well, they need ants to cause the buds to open) and a million purple phlox which bloomed at the same time as a million orange-red poppies, both of which are abundant self-seeders. The color combination was horrible but the poppies, seen in a mass were quite astonishing. I've weeded out the purple phlox, saved the pink and bi-color and moved them but they almost always get mildewed in mid summer, doesn't affect their bloom. The poppies were also weeded out, very difficult to do because a small bit of root left behind will quickly regrow. I've saved a few and some pop up in strange places, they need constant vigilance. NOTE, this is a local type and looks different from the red, clump forming poppies. Each of the orange blossomed ones lasts literally one day, then drop their petals, making something of a mess. They also leave a bare space in summer, growing leaves only spring and fall. I dont have much luck with purple floxglove or the perennial ones (purperea?)I wish I did but I now have a thriving colony of the wild yellow ones. They are quite tall and are also perennial. I harvested seed from some growing along the road side a number of years ago. There used to be a lot on the roadside below the current Wallmart in Ulster. Columbine...I now have several different types, Nora Barlow (double burgundy and white,grown from seed) and lots of pink to blue to purple...a favorite is pink with green tinge. All do well, self seed everywhere but prefer to grow in the random bluestone walk. I think they like cool roots and good drainage. I've noticed the wild (red with yellow) prefer to grow on rock faces. Many get leaf miner which doesnt affect them much. Siberian Iris do very well, older dark purple-blue given by my 80 year old neighbor 30 years ago, and 10 year old white which look fantastic with the pink peonies. I did loose a 10'x2' border of the purple ones one winter, totally eaten, not a single one left, devoured by voles tunneling under the snow I had piles on top of them. Since they self seed, I again have a bunch. Occasionally get some kind of worm that eats the buds. Hollyhocks are one of my favorites, (the deer also love to eat the leaves, I try to cover them with chicken wire in the early spring until the deer find other things to eat) mine are all pale shades of yellow, pink, coral, single.I'm totally opposed to the doubles which look like kleenex flowers I made in 3rd grade. All from seed I gathered here and there. Had some violent fushia pink ones that looked bad with everything but have removed them. Bee balm does spread a lot but if you have room to let it go somewhere, the hummers do love it. It also gets mildewed but doesnt seem to harm it. I have a wonderful dark maroon one from a friend.
...See More
Your Favorite Long Blooming Perennials?
Q
Comments (24)
OK, I'll give them additional thought. :) the screaming acid chartreuse doesn't bother me. It is the alien form. I have seen them in California gardens looking wonderful but not here. I grew up in Arizona and now that I am in Portland, I like my garden to look like Portland if that makes sense? I LOVE Arizona and would move back in a heartbeat if DH would go but he won't. I LOVE the desert. LOVE tropical/arid plants but think they look funny here out in the landscape for the most part. I think Euphorbias and most succulents look better in gardens South or at least with houses whose architecture is better suited. I've seen some gorgeous stucco cottages with tons of tropical/succulent plants in the PNW that are awesome but my house just doesn't. I did get a small greenhouse for my birthday and am going to fill it with tropical plants so I can go out and putter or sit when it rains here. I'm totally full up on trees, I actually have too many but can't bear to edit, yet. I've got a Prunus x bleiriana that has been nothing but diseased and infested and ice damaged since day one. It was a present from my DH the first birthday after we bought this house (which had no trees at all, or shrubs other than Laurel for that matter) and the first tree we planted. I'm darn near full up on shrubs and subshrubs too. I've ripped out several this year to make way for new favorites. :) I can always squeeze in one more dwarf conifer or Rhodie...or heather or Daphne....:)
...See More
scully931
13 years ago
Catmint - so reliable, pretty all year--even when not in bloom--and spreads beautifully.

Coneflowers - I like the pink. Blooms a little later in the year when many things are done.

Lupine - great spring flower. I do have some trouble growing them. I have bought quite a few through mailorder and only have one really big one. Admittedly, the mailorder ones were quite small. Perhaps I'd have more luck if I bought more established plants.
DYH
13 years ago
In no particular order and I'm including annuals:

Salvia
Zinnias
Coneflowers
Bee balm
perennial heliotrope
phlox (either creeping or the tall garden)
California poppies
nigella
hardy geranium
mums

Difficult to pick just 10 -- I also have flax, lamb's ear, carex, buddleia, daylilies, roses, catmint, clematis, balloon flowers, rose campion, gaura, heuchera, sedum, azaleas, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender.

Cameron
squirejohn zone4 VT
13 years ago
peonies
day lillies
hosta
bee balm
Siberian iris (super ego)
fox glove
lupine (banner year for lupine)
bleeding heart
astilbe
heliopsis

I chose these because they do well here. There are others that I'd include (e.g. gas plant) that only seem to last a few years and then die.
craftlady07
13 years ago
in no particular order and these are just my favorite perennials in general :)

1. rose campion
2. sundrops (oenthera)
3. Hollyhocks
4. catmint
5. Daisies
6. coreopsis
7. foxglove
8. yarrow
9. alyssum (self seeding annual)
1. phlox (creeping and tall).
  10.5 lambs ear :)
since those are all sun I want to add a few shade lovers
1. Pulmonaria (lungwort)
2. Poleminium (jacobs ladder)
3. Dicentra (bleeding heart)
4. Brunnera
5. Hydrangea
6. Heuchera

~Andrea
njmomma
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks guys! I just bought today my first 2 lavender plants. I love how they look! I also bought a purple/lavender flowering Jacob's Ladder that I've never seen before. I hope it does well and comes back next year. They also had a beautiful specimen phlox David that I really wanted but didn't have $ for. It will be bought later. :)
mbravebird
13 years ago
Love this question and will be back later to look at everyone else's answers. In no particular order:

Delphinium
Penstemon
Daisies
Rudbeckia
Echinacea
Yarrow (rose-colored)
Bee Balm
Peonies
Coreopsis
Poppies

I'm trying Lupines for the first time this year -- I started them from seed, so they won't bloom until next year.

My hollyhocks that I started from seed last year will bloom this year, so I'll see how I like them.

And I didn't mention irises!

Have fun choosing your plants.
girlgroupgirl
13 years ago
I don't really have a top number, it changes from year to year as the weather changes, and of course right plant - right place.
As for daylilies, I agree that diversifying is probably a good idea, maybe a little something for spring, and something for fall, and a nice leaf contrast.

asters
sundrops
alyssum
chrysanthemum
helianthus
dwarf solidago
Kiskin
13 years ago
My favourites include:

roses
peonies
salvia nemorosa (esp. Caradonna)
alchemilla mollis
stachys byzantina
echinacea
irises
agastache (Blue Fortune)
achillea
papaver orientale (esp. PattyÂ´s Plum)

{{gwi:710246}}
This is PattyÂ´s Plum (the picture is not mine, but borrowed from Gardenersworld.com)
daislander
13 years ago
Ladys Mantel/alchemilla mollis
Roses
Peonies
All iriss
Hardy geranium
Zantedeschia/ Calla Liliy
Astilbe
Lavender
Lambs ear
Lilys
Bergenia
Euphorbia
Daylilys
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
13 years ago
Great question!
Delphinium grandiflorum - this is the low growing delph. Much easier to grow, same fantastic blue color.

Salvia - I grow lots of different sages, both hardy and tender in this zone. Fantastic, easy care, every color of the rainbow.

Alcea Rosea (Hollyhock) - yes, they get rust, Japanese beetles love them and they seed, but nothing says cottage garden like a hollyhock.

Columbine - a personal favorite for its grace.

Nepeta (catmint) - so easy to grow. blooms almost all summer.

Echinacea - I grow Magnus, the old standby. Start with one, in three years you'll have ten, in five years enough for all your friends.

Siberian Iris - so unfussy. Beautiful plant with no disease or pest problems.

Lychnis coronia (rose campion) - I love the silver foliage and the hot magenta flowers. Makes a bold statement in the garden.

Achillea (yarrow) - Love the flower clusters combined with something spikey.

Plumbago - not hardy in my zone but I love the sky blue flower clusters.

Snapdragons - only the tall kind (rocket). Yes, it's an annual but no cottage garden should be without it.
lisa33
13 years ago
Delphinium
Foxglove
Clematis
Rose
Poppies of all kinds
Peonies
Catmint
Wisteria
Rose Campion
Reseeding annuals (alyssum, larkspur, nigella, bb, etc)
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
13 years ago
Old fashioned Pinks
Lavender
Shasta Daisies
Echinacea
Oriental Poppies
Michaelmas Daisies
Peonies
Campanula
Daylilies
Iris

Related Stories

SUMMER GARDENING 10 Perennials to Extend Your Garden's Summer Color

By LuAnn Brandsen

Revive summer-weary gardens with outstanding late bloomers such as toad lily, Russian sage, blanket flower and more

GARDENING GUIDES Top 12 Summer-Blooming Perennials for Deer-Resistant Drama

Can you have garden color, fragrance and exciting foliage with hungry deer afoot? These beauties say yes

GARDENING GUIDES 10 Cold- and Heat-Tolerant Perennials and Shrubs for the Arid West

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

These flowering native plants shrug off the cold of winter and heat of summer while adding beauty to the drought-tolerant landscape

NATIVE PLANTS 10 Essential Native Perennials for the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest

By Pollination Press LLC

These adaptable native plants thrive in a variety of conditions and will provide flowers throughout the season

GROUND COVERS Ground Force: 10 Top Ground Covers for Your Garden

By Carol Bucknell Garden Design

Protect your soil from weeds and drought this summer with a living mulch of ground covers

GARDENING GUIDES 10 Top Mid-Atlantic Native Plants

By Curtis Adams

Enjoy a four-season garden in the mid-Atlantic region with plants that will stand up to weather shifts, clay soil and the occasional deer

PLANTING IDEAS Want a More Colorful, Natural Garden? Try a Perennial Meadow

Spend less time tending and more time taking in the sights by improving on Victorian and prairie garden designs

HOUSEPLANTS 10 Top Plants to Grow Indoors

Brighten a room and clean the air with a houseplant that cascades artfully, stretches toward the ceiling or looks great on a wall

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: 20 Gorgeous Perennials to Plant Now

By The Estate of Things

Take advantage of warm spring weather to create a colorful garden with blooming plants, succulents and ornamental grasses

SPRING GARDENING Top 10 Scented Plants for Your Garden

By Carol Bucknell Garden Design

A palette of perfumed plants can transform even the smallest of gardens into a sensory delight

Sponsored