Calendula, sweet alyssum, viola tricolor, nigella.......

Forget-me-nots,Herb Robert, Hellebores, these all used to self seed very well in our garden in Tassie.

I have a couple of gorgeous Zebrina mallows from self seed, and the daisy bushes produced far too many seedlings the first year. The Velt daisy spreads too well sometimes.

celosia - the big, weird one.

All of the above, plus cosmos and verbascum (the silver leafed one).

I second the recommendation of Nigella.
Annual candytuft is one of my favourites.
Californian poppies self sow like you won't believe (or at least they do here) and are as tough as nails in a range of colours, but be warned, you could be pulling them out of everything from garden beds to pots. Very prolific and easy.
Parsley is a great self sower and very useful for the obvious reason, as well as its attractive dark green.
Lambs ears (stachys lanata) are also good, and drought hardy (my best plant grows in a crack between brick wall and concrete driveway!).
Erigeron daisy is renowned for self sowing. I'm waiting to see if coriander's copious seeds germinate. Beautiful misty cottagey flowers, I've got my fingers crossed.

I've also got STACKS of cornflower seeds in my garden. I grew the parents from direct "sown" seed(read: packet emptied on garden bed at random)last spring, without much care, so I am optomistic they should be good. I tend to buy packs of seeds and throw them around. What comes up comes up and is left to self sow.

Forgot to mention Primulas. Excellent self sowers. Try any annual really. A good finely textured mulch or crevices between mulching rocks/pebbles very helpful.

I don't know whether you like them for a cottage garden but my Dietes (white one) self sows too. I have it in my native garden, and the seeds fall into the mulch under a prostrate grevillea....not necessarily one you want self sowing of course..if you don't want babies, cut the spent blooms off.

What about Aquilegia's, Verbena bonariensis,violas and erigeronif it's declared a weed in your state.

... nasturtium, impatiens ...

I have cleome, phlox and primulas coming up at the moment.

Annual scabiosa, gaura (butterfly bush), euphorbias, any types of poppies, honesty

Last year I saw hundreds of what must have been Blue Gentians in the Maldon cemetery. Will they grow in Victoria?
Helebores seem to self seed at my daughter's place in Emerald (Vic)
I have a pretty little Chrysanthemum coming up . It is creamy and grows about 20cm-8in high and is very pretty.
There is a reckless Purple Verbena which like the gold oenethera seeds everywhere. The pale pink oenethera seeded everywhere to where I destroyed it. SORRY NOW.
I have the salmon poppy seeds coming up. We are in the bush but I heard folks saying we shouldn't grow it and Bell Park (what we call Little Russia) is full of it. noone seems to do anything about it so got some seeds from a friend

Petunias,snapdragons,snapdragon vine
,scabious,fennel,creeping toadflax,freesia,
canary island'lavender',chilli,hollyhocks,italian parsley,lovage,borage,salvia[pink and white],basil,evening primrose,freckle face,feverfew,chives,chinese fivespice,coriander,sage,perrenial coriander,madiera vine,portulaca,lupins,sweet peas,love in the mist,are all reseeding prolifically in my sand wherever water is regular.

thank you very much everyone for all the ideas, I have just purchased some cottage plant seeds from a 100 year old garden so I am so excited about that. If anyone has any seed of anything I am quite willing to pay postage.

Once again Thanks Tania

Bilbs,

Have some malva, calafornian poppies, sunflowers, and a few other things if you want. Can send them COD postage to Bilbsybabe C/- PO to your nearest PO if you like. No need for your address. (I am on Yorke Peninsula so they should be similar eco types, not that it really matters.

Doogle.

Vincas, marigolds and salvias are the go in my garden.

Not that you really need any more ideas, but I found a great book in a "throw-out" bundle in a bookstore (think it was angus and robertson) for about $5. "Plants for free - how to create a garden for next-to-nothing" by Sharon Amos. Has details about making cuttings, dividing plants, layering, and a fantastic plant directory of plants that are easy to propagate, self seed etc. $5 well spent.

My most successful self seeders (sometimes too successful) are Valerian (Centranthus ruber), Yellow Horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum), Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria), and Virginian Stock (Malcolmia maritima). Also Alysumm (Lobularia maritima)and Bladder Campion (Silene maritima). They all just dot themselves delightfully around my gravel garden - where they appear is usually just where they look best!

African daisies self sow prolifically too

zinnias very easy to grow tolerant of forgetful owners and pop up every year in mass.

zinnias very easy to grow tolerant of forgetful owners and pop up every year in mass.

Many English gardens have Russell Lupins as a metre tall flower spike with pea like flowers. They are very popular.
Another is Aquilegias also known as granny's bonnets. They are very colourful and redily self seed without becoming a nuisance.
I see a suggestion of forget-me-nots but once you sow them they are hard to control and virtually need poisoning to get rid of or a lot of hard work pulling them out.
If you would like seeds of the two I have mentioned I may have some left over. Both should be planted soon.

I live in SA too I live in the southern suburbs and californian poppies, evening primrose, hollyhocks, marigold, alyssum, cosmos, seaside daisy all self seeded in my garden

Shelley