Roses:
Rose de Rescht
Nachadoches
Peace, climbing
Gene Boerner
Livin' Easy

Flowering shrubs:
Gardenia
Azalea
Camellia
Hydrangeas
Spirea

Small trees:
Dogwood
Crape Myrtle
Vitex
Tea Olive
Sassafras

Butterfly plants:
Lantana
Pentas
Verbena bonariensis
Dianthus
Porterweed

Herbs:
Parsley
Oregano
Thyme
Rosemary
Sage

Bulbs:
Daffodils
True Lilies
Crinums
Caladiums
Crocosmia

Five important perennials:
Daylilies
Gaillardia
Echinacea
Kniphofia
Salvia leucantha

Annuals:
Larkspur
Violas
Madagascar periwinkle
Black Eyed Susans
Zinnias

Tropicals:
Gingers
Pride of Barbados
Esperanza
Castor Bean
Shrimp plant

5 Things I left off:
Perennial Phlox
Agapanthus
Ferns
Loropetalum
Hyacinths

Nell

Southeastern US zone 7b

5 Flowering shrubs: osmanthus, azalea, spirea, buddleia, gardenia

5 Small trees: vitex, crape myrtle, cherry, curly willow, Japanese maple

5 Butterfly plants: asclepias, agastache, echinacea, bronze fennel, verbena

Five Roses: Radrazz KO, Lady Banksia (I have more deer than roses)

5 Herbs: lavender, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives

5 Bulbs: irises (many types), Spanish bluebells, allium, crocosmia, daffodils

Five important Perennials: agastache, salvia, nepeta, echinacea, dianthus

5 Annuals: larkspur, poppies, petunias, coleus, snapdragons

5 Tropicals: colocasia, canna, calla lily, brugmansia, cordyline

5 things you Left Off: creeping perennial heliotrope, lantana, gaillardia, hydrangea (deer here), stachys

Cameron

This is fun! For zone 8b, caliche soil:

5 Flowering shrubs:
glossy abelia
flowering senna
Galphimia glauca (golden showers bush)
dwarf crepe myrtle
mock orange

5 Small trees:
American smoke tree :-)
Yaupon Holly
Possum Haw Holly
Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum
Kidneywood

5 Butterfly plants:
Turk's Cap (some call it a weed, but that depends...)
Shrubby Boneset a.k.a. fragrant mistflower
Lantana
Fall aster
Passion Vine (native)

Five Roses:
Belinda's Dream
Mutabilis
Mrs. B.R. Cant
Old Blush
Valentine

5 Herbs:
rosemary
oregano
dill
chives
basil

5 Bulbs:
crinums
certain heirloom varieties of daffodils
certain heirloom varieties of amaryllis
Cannas (are these bulbs?)
certain varieties of rain lilies

Five important Perennials:
Mexican bush sage
Mexican oregano
Calylophus
Tecoma stans (Esparanza)
Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala)

5 Annuals:
borage
bluebonnets
greenthread
oriental poppies
pansies (winter only)

5 Tropicals:
Pride of Barbados
Cannas
Coralbean
Brugmansia
Cannas

5 things you Left Off:
Mountain Laurel
White & purple iris
Bridal Wreath Spirea
Desert Willow
Little leaf cordia

PNW Zone 8

5 Flowering Shrubs: Philadelphus, Lilac, Hydrangea, Azalea, Buddleia.

5 Small Trees: Laburnum, Dogwood, Magnolia.

5 Butterfly Plants: Bronze Fennel, Echinacea, Verbena.

5 Roses: Albertine, Constance Spry, Graham Thomas, Abraham Darby. The Mayor of Casterbridge.

5 Herbs: Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Chives, Oregano.

5 Bulbs: Crocus, Muscari, Spanish Bluebells, Tulips, Snowdrops.

5 Important Perennials: Asters, Shasta Daisies, Dianthus, Peonies, Iris.

5 Annuals: Snapdragons, Nasturtiums, Calendulas, Poppies, Nicotiana.

5 Tropicals: Brugmansias, Cannas, Jasmine, Mandevilla, Orchid Cactus.

5 Things Left Off: Hollyhocks, Campanulas, Foxgloves, Daylilies, Lupins.

Why is my mind going blank, I know the second I post this I'll be saying why didn't I say ........

Annette

5 Flowering shrubs: Butterfly Bush, Forsythia, Hydrangea, Azalea, and Spirea

5 Small trees: Redbud, Dogwood, Crape Myrtle

5 Butterfly plants: Butterfly Bush, Black Eyed Susans, Echinacea, Zinnia, and Verbena

Five Roses: Blush Noisette, Lamarque, Duchess de Brabant, Colonial White, and Mrs B R Cant

5 Herbs: Thyme, Feverfew (for looks), Chives, Basil, and Rosemary

5 Bulbs: Daf's, Hyacinths, irises

Five important Perennials: Daisies (Becky), Cottage Pinks, daylilies, verbena (perennial here), and Nepta

5 Annuals: Snapdragons, poppies, zinnia, larkspur, and violas

5 Tropicals: Balsam, Jasmine

5 things you Left Off, Hollyhocks,Foxgloves, Morning Glory, and Clematis

Meghan

Southeastern zone 7:

5 Flowering shrubs: Loropetalum, Hydrangea quercifolia, Lantana 'Miss Huff', Roses, doublefile Viburnums

5 Small trees: Halesia, Magnolia virginiana australis, Crape myrtle, Dogwood, Chionanthus virginicus

5 Butterfly plants: Aesclepias tuberosa, Halesia (early swallowtails love the blooms), Eupatorium 'Gateway', Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Echinacea purpurea

Five Roses: 'Radrazz', 'Flower Carpet', 'Carefree Delight', 'Climbing Pinkie, 'America' (all disease resistant. I don't spray any rose...except with deer spray)

5 Herbs: Sage, thyme, rosemary, basil, Italian parsley

5 Bulbs: Narcissus, Ipheion, Zephyranthes (rain lilies), Allium aflatunence 'Globemaster', Allium senescens var. calcareum

Five important Perennials: Hellebore orientalis, Echinacea purpurea, Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm', Salvia guarantica, Salvia greggii

5 Annuals: Ageratum, Zinnia elegans, Zinnia angustifolia, Angelonia, Coleus

5 Tropicals: Cordyline 'Red Sensation', Mandevilla, Canna 'Sunburst', Canna 'Bengal Tiger', (can't think of a fifth)

5 things you Left Off: Caryopteris 'Summer Sorbet', Juniperus rigida 'Pendula' (specimen conifer), Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus', Ilex verticillata 'Sparkleberry', Acer buergianum (trident maple)

ppsssssssssst Annette.

You forgot sweet peas. ;)

Mid-Atlantic garden:
5 Flowering shrubs: Viburnums, philadelphus, rhododendrons, Buddleas, lilacs

5 Small trees: Dogwood, Redbud, Chioanthus virginicus, japanese maple, Yoshino cherry

5 Butterfly plants: Buddlea, asters, echinacea, hostas, salvias

Five Roses: Heritage, Rose de Rescht, Jacques Cartier, Constance Spry, Charles de Mills

5 Herbs: Lavender, Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary

5 Bulbs: Allum christophii, hyacinths, narcissis, snowdrops, crocus

Five important Perennials: Campanulas, salvias, asters, dianthus, hardy geraniums

5 Annuals: Nigella, nicotiana, forget-me-nots, alyssum, heliotrope

5 Tropicals: can't grow tropicals here

5 things you Left Off: clematis, hellebores, dianthus (old-fashioned pinks & sweet william), viginia bluebells

I copied and didn't look at the other lists as to not sway my picks. I check them out when I'm done.
# 5 Flowering shrubs:
Lilac
Spirea- bridal wreath types
Viburnum
Hibiscus
any other great smelling shrub like Itea(Virginia Sweetspire) or Clethra(Summersweet)

# 5 Small trees:
I like trees like my dwarf apple. It flowers in spring and you get fruit in fall.
Redbud

# 5 Butterfly plants:
Buddleia(Butterfly Bush)
Caryopteris(blue Mist Shrub)
Verbena
Purple Coneflower
Weigela-for hummingbirds since there was no list for them

# Five Roses:
I can't pick just 5!! I consider any old rose that doesn't look like blooms on sticks to work well.

# 5 Herbs:
Oregano
Thyme
Valerian
Amsterdam Celery

# 5 Bulbs:
Daffodils
Lilies
Iris
Crocus or other small bulb popping up everywhere in early spring

# Five important Perennials:
Campanulas(Bluebells)
Geraniums
Phlox
Veronica
Salvia
Peony

# 5 Annuals:
Petunia
Salvia
Zinnia
Sunflower
Cosmos

# 5 Tropicals:
Peppers
Tomatoes -I had to get my veggies in the lists somehow!
Lantana

# 5 things you Left Off:
Clematis-vine
Morning Glory-vine
Hollyhock-biennial
Myosotis(Forget-me-nots) -biennial
Dianthus Barbatus(Sweet William)-biennial

Ok, good enough : )
Remy

North Florida

# 5 Flowering shrubs:
Mock Orange
Butterfly Bush
Camellia
Hydrangea (oakleaf, French, Annabelle)
Spirea (S. cantoniensis)

# 5 Small trees:
Japanese Maple
Dogwood
Greybeard
Japanese Magnolia
Crape Myrtle

# 5 Butterfly plants:
Butterfly Weed (A. currasavica)
Pentas
Lantana
Mexican Bush Sage
Salvia guaranitica

# Five Roses:
Homerun
Martha Gonzalez
St. Davids
Buff Beauty
Blaze

# 5 Herbs:
Rosemary
Stevia
Garlic Chives
Cilantro
Mexican Tarragon

# 5 Bulbs:
Daffodils
Amaryllis
Rain Lily
Butterfly Ginger (rhizome actually)
Crocosmia

# Five important Perennials:
Rudbeckia fulgida
Firespike
Swamp Sunflower
Phlox panciculata
Cuphea llavea (batfaced)

# 5 Annuals:
Snapdragon
Narrow leaf Zinnia
Purslane
Impatiens
Coleus

# 5 Tropicals:
Persian Shield
HIbiscus (Chinese)
Angelonia
Blue Glory (Thunbergia battescombeii)
Mexican Bird of Paradise

# 5 things you Left Off:
Althea
King's Mantle (Thunbergia erecta)
Rhododendron
Cassia (Senna) bicapsularis
Copper Canyon Daisy
Tagetes lemonii

Don't know if these are all "cottage" but they are ones that I love. Forgive spelling errors:)

5 Flowering shrubs:
hydrangea
Osmanthus (sweet tea olive)
azalea
roses

5 Small trees:
dogwood
Eucalyptus
Tulip Tree

5 Butterfly plants:
coneflower
lantana
balloon flower
fennel
Mexican heather

5 Herbs:
Thyme
Rosemary
dill
basil
chocolate mint

5 Bulbs:
Daffs
Tulips
lilies
muscari
hyacinths

Five important Perennials:
gaillardia
lavender
hollyhock
salvia
daylily

5 Annuals:
4-Oclock
petunia
begonia
pansy
viola

5 Tropicals:
Calla lily (not sure this is truly tropical)
Canna "Phaison"
hibiscus
plumeria
brugmansia (tropical?)

5 things you Left Off:

Hummingbird plant
Hosta

Vines:
Carolina Jasmine
moonflower vine
morning glory

Nikki

I love lists. I'm doing mine without reading anyone else's ideas so that I won't succumb to suggestibility.

# 5 Flowering shrubs: lilac, rose, daphne, viburnum, blueberries
# 5 Small trees: dwarf fruit trees - apples, plums, apricot (and in my climate) oranges, lemons
# 5 Butterfly plants:
# Five Roses: Violette (purple rambler), Cl Etoile de Hollande (red climber), Old Port (my favorite floribunda, very Austin-like, deep purple red), Marie Pavié (polyantha, palest wash of pink), Grandmother's Hat (hybrid perpetual, deep pink). This is really hard. I think I'd have been happier picking my favorite 25.
# 5 Herbs: basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives
# 5 Bulbs: lilies, tulips, bluebells, daffodils, and more lilies
# Five important Perennials: peonies, daylilies, salvia, mums, heuchera
# 5 Annuals: bachelor's buttons, calendulas, nasturtiums, violas, sunflowers
# 5 Tropicals: don't work for me in a cottage garden
# 5 things you Left Off: like the other twenty roses on my must-have list? And more perennials?

This is DATA...the programmer in me wants all this data to at least be in a spreadsheet so it can sorted and viewed by type of plant, region, etc.

If I didn't have so much writing to do this week, I'd be on this project!

Cameron

I canÂt resist. IÂm mostly a lurker here, and always on New England Gardening, but I feel we northern gardeners are largely unaccounted for. There are lots of things we canÂt have that you Southerners have aplenty. So come on, Brenda and others, come to the party. And of course, I canÂt resist commenting.
Shrubs  hydrangea, box  oh so English, but one of my faves -- bridal wreath spirea, lilac, viburnum
Perennials  this was HARD. Campanulas (and other bell-shaped flowers), phlox  the backbone of my beds  daylilies, foxglove, salvias (all kinds)
Annuals  cosmos, nasturtiums, verbena bonariensis, petunias, sunflowers (see other, below)
Bulbs- daffodils, lilies, allium, bluebells, squill
Butterflies  buddleia, monarda (the hummingbirds fave too), purple coneflower, agastache
Roses- New Dawn, climbing Cecile Brunner, Heritage, Carefree Delight, Grus en Aachen (can you tell I like pink roses the best?)
Herbs  Basil, Lavender, different kinds of thymes, scented geraniums
Other- (big category) clematis, hollyhock (quintessential cottage), sweet peas (oooh those colors), iris, peonies, lupine, nepeta and alyssum(fillers)

I think it evens out, Silvergirl. You have lilacs, peonies, delphiniums and rhodoendrons. We have crape myrtle, mophead hydrangeas, azaleas (technically a rhodedendron, but you know the difference?) and some other things like spanish moss hanging off live oaks, that are peculiar to the south. We're all envious sometimes.

Thanks for joining in. If Cameron doesn't get time to make a spreadsheet, I might try when the sheds are cleaned out and bad weather runs me back inside for longer than just time to rest my knee.

Nell

For Zone 6 lower midwest, Ozarks

I don't know why but this was difficult for me to do.

You may list fewer than five, but not more.
5 Flowering shrubs:
Rose of Sharon, hibiscus syriacus
Bridal Wreath spirea, spirea prunifolia and x vanhoutte
Mock Orange, philadelphus coronaria
kerria japonica
beauty bush, kolkwitzia amabilis

5 Small trees:
Serviceberry, amelanchier
redbud
dogwood
acer ginala
buckeye, aesculus pavia

5 Butterfly plants:

zinnias
verbena bonariensis
all salvias
asclepias
Joe Pye weed

Five Roses:
Awakening
Arethusa, rosa chinensis, blooms all season
Old Blush, rosa chinensis, first and last to bloom
Aloha, very fragrant
Blanc double de Coubert, white rugosa, very fragrant

5 Herbs:

Garden sage
Rosemary
Dill
lavender
bronze fennel

5 Bulbs:

Narcissi
asiatic lilies
grape hyacinths
crocus
la hybrid lilies
trumpet lilies

Five important Perennials:
peonies
echinacea
rudbeckias
salvia
daylilies
foxgloves

5 Annuals:

zinnias
salvias
cosmos, tall and short
kiss-me-over-the-garden gate
petunias

5 Tropicals: No experience

5 things you Left Off:
clematis
coleus
iris
gypsophila
asters

Nell -- I got your note on my blog. I know putting this in a spreadsheet will be tedious!

Yes, Google Notebook that I wrote about in my blog is a great way to clip and organize...much better than what GW allows since people can see what you've clipped and you can't clip from anywhere else. With Google Notebook, folks can clip from anywhere, keep it private and organize it into notebooks.
Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: how to do clippings on the web

Nell -- forgot to mention that I'm linking to your blog from my blog article tomorrow. :-)

Thanks, Cameron.

The Google spreadsheet data entry is done, with 13 GW members' choices entered.

It can be sorted by plant name, category (Butterfly Plant, Annual, Perennial, Flowering Shrub) or by zone.

Funny, we have agastache 3 times -- herb, butterfly plant and perennial. I would have called it an annual, LOL.

We need data from more members all across the country. The data needs fine tuning.

I don't know how to set this up to be viewed by everybody. Help! Cameron?

Nell

Hey, we just got home (11:30pm here) from an Art Walk over in Greensboro. I've got a writer's workshop tomorrow, so it may be Sunday before I can help you with publishing. You can upload an Excel spreadsheet to Google docs and publish from there. You can't embed the spreadsheet here, so you'll have to provide the URL to the location where you place it. It will be open to the public unless you decide you'd rather send out email invitations to each participant (too tedious).

Here is the Spreadsheet, sorted in alphabetical order by plant name.
Data is from 13 Cottage Gardeners.

It does not allow visitors to sort. You can see the plants by zones in this original thread. I can repost it, sorted by Category, if anyone wants to see it sorted that way.

It is imperfect. I made few changes to the data except to change things like 'Italian parsley' to 'Parsley Italian' so it would sort with the other parsleys. I may go back and give all the roses, 'Rose' as a first name so they sort together.

We need many more gardeners to add their lists here and I'll add theirs to the spreadsheet. Already you can see that things like echinacea and most of the herbs are popular everywhere.

The column that is dark shaded is not a part of the data --it contains markers (names) that held my place when typing.

I hope somebody finds this helpful, one day.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: List of Quintessential Cottage Plants

Nell, This is a wonderful reference to have on hand. I've book marked the long form. I'll try to go through the list and mark the plants there, that I can grow in zone 4, and add any others that aren't on the list yet. It will probably be later in the week before I get to it. Thanks for doing this!
It's very cool ;)
MeMo

MY DREAM QUINTESSENTIAL GARDEN:

5 Flowering shrubs:
Old-Fashioned Lilac
Innocence Mockorange
Viburnum carlcephalum
Endless Summer Hydrangea
Flowering Almond

5 Small trees:
Magnolia soulangiana
Pink Double Weeping Cherry
Native dogwood
Dwarf Apple trees
Self-fertile almond tree

5 Butterfly plants:
Butterfly Bush
Summer Phlox
Becky shasta daisy
pincushion flower
Walker's Low catmint

5 Roses:
Rosa centifolia muscosa 'Old Pink Moss'
Rosa centifolia 'Cabbage Rose'
Rosa 'La VIlle de Bruxelles'
Rosa 'Queen of Denmark'
Rosa 'Felicite Parmentier

5 Herbs:
English Lavender
Artemisias
Apple Mint
Valerian
Catnip

5 Bulbs:
Hyacinth
Lily
Daffodil
Grape Hyacinth
English Bluebell

5 important Perennials:
Peach-leaf Bellflower
Peony
Bearded Iris
Bleeding Heart
Lamb's Ear

5 Annuals:
larkspur
poppy
Hollyhock
Foxglove
Canterbury Bell

5 Tropicals:
Tuberose
Jasmine
Brugmansia
Freesia
Nicotianas

5 things you Left Off:
Canterbury Bell (biennial)
Sweet Violet
Cottage Pinks
Clematis
lily of the valley

***excuse me, I meant to put the nicotianas under annuals and Lemon Verbena under tropicals***

I'll fix it on the Spreadsheet.

Nell

I'm new, but this looks fun!

5 Flowering shrubs:
Buddleia
Gardenia
Sweet olive
Camelia
Confederate rose

5 Small trees:
Chaste vitex
Crape myrtle
Dogwood
Redbud

5 Butterfly plants:
Penta
Lantana
Asclepia (butterfly weed)
Lobellia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Passiflora (passion vine)

Five Roses:
Belinda's Dream
Julia Child
Earth Song
Carefree Beauty
Mrs B. R. Cant

5 Bulbs:
Crocosmia
Oriental lily
Gladiolus
Hyacinth
Caladium

Five important Perennials:
Salvia
Daylily
Confederate jasmine (star jasmine)
Gaillardia
Coral honeysuckle (lonicera)

5 Annuals:
Morning glory
Cardinal climber
Zinnia
Larkspur
Sweet alyssum

5 Tropicals:
Banana shrub(michaela figo)
Butterfly ginger (hedychium)
Night blooming jasmine
Tropical Hibiscus
Plumbago

5 things you Left Off:
Hardy hibiscus
Thunbergia (all types: Black-eyed Susan vine, Clock vine)
Brugmansia
Sweetpea
Petunia

Hi, Jovy, welcome to Cottage Forum. I added your plants to the spreadsheet, linked below sorted by Zone. The previous link sorted by Category.

You didn't tell us your state or general area. I'm guessing South East, because I don't see Texas perennials nor Pacific NW shrubs on your list.
Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Spreadsheet Sorted by Zone

I'm from central Louisiana. Sorry about not telling the location.

The Spreadsheet can now be viewed by Category, with categories sorted by zone at:

Cottage Garden Plants Sorted by category

What a public service! Thank you for creating the spread sheet.

I usually just lurk here, but I saw that no one from my zone made a contribution, so here are some plants that give a cottagey feel in hot inland southern California, Sunset 19 and I think it's 9 USDA:

5 Flowering shrubs:
Bridal Wreath Spiraea
Duranta
Texas Privet
Common Myrtle
Springtime Viburnum

5 Small trees:
Lemon
Orange
Lime
Crape Myrtle
Mayten

5 Butterfly plants:
yarrow
milkweed
passion vine
common mint
Queen AnneÂs Lace

5 Roses:
St. Patrick
Henry Fonda
Marilyn Monroe
Iceberg
JosephÂs Coat

5 Herbs:
thyme
oregano
catmint
Italian parsley
rosemary

5 Bulbs:
Asiatic lilies
tiger lilies
ranunculus
dahlias
oxalis

5 Perennials:
pelargoniums
daylilies
bearded irises
crown pinks
Santa Barbara daisies

5 Annuals:
red flax
paludosum daisies
larkspur
elegant clarkia
cosmos

5 Tropicals:
brugmansia
canna lilies
calla lilies
clivia
impatiens

5 Things you Left Off:
foxgloves
poppies
petunias
violas
vincas

Renee

hrmmphhhh.,. wweeelll....
5 Flowering shrubs:
Bridal Wreath Spiraea - just acquired I`ll keep you posted
Lilacs
Forsythia
Golden Spirea
Red Dogwood
5 Small trees:
Plum
apple
Crab Apple
Plum

not sure what`s next
5 Butterfly plants:
yarrow
milkweed
passion vine
common mint
Queen AnneÂs Lace

5 Herbs:
thyme
oregano
catmint
Italian parsley
rosemary

5 Bulbs:
Asiatic lilies
tulips
croscusis
narriccisus
gaLnthus

5 Perennials:
pelargoniums - actually, you mean cranesbills= these,are the true perrenials
daylilies
bearded irises
hostas

5 Annuals:
Zinnias
cosmos
larkspurs
marigolds
calendula

5 Tropicals:
brugmansia
canna lilies
calla lilies
clivia
impatiens

5 Things you Left Off:
foxgloves
poppies
petunias
violas
peonies

I made a mistake on the last category.

It should have read as follows:
Copper Canyon Daisy (Tagetes lemmonii)
but I put the Latin name on the next line instead, so they should be listed as just one plant.

Thanks for the spreadsheet, Nell. It has suggested some plants that I want to add to the garden.