Balloon Flower (Platycodon)

Balloon Flower
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

This is another true blue flower; fully hardy.  It's late to emerge in the spring, so be careful not to dig it up!  It flowers in late summer.

Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea)

Bachelor Buttons
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

Known as cornflowers in English, this true blue flower was grown as early at 1629!  A common seed in medieval times, it had several medicinal uses.  For your garden, select the tallest variety you can find.

Babies Breath (Gypsophilia)

Babies Breath
by Phyliss Williams

This is not a traditional choice, but it *is* a wonderful addition.  The large double varieties perennial will grow almost 3 feet tall and wide!  Valuable if you want to include everlastings to your garden.

Special Elements for the Cottage Garden - Part 1

Authentic Materials

Cottage gardens are as much about atmosphere as they are about the flowers and plants.  You may choose to plant the "correct" flowers, but without thoughtful placement, something will be lacking: a mood, a feeling... the "atmosphere".

So.  How do you create this special world?

#1 - Use Authentic Materials

Concrete was unknown in the periods when cottage garden thrived.  Minimize any existing concrete in your garden by covering it with pots of flowing foliage.

Brick or flagstone pathways, or even crushed stone or bark chips, will blend with your flower beds.  Be sure to plant low herbs or small flowering plants right at the edge where they will spill onto the pathway.

Avoid any polyvinyl edging or plastic flowerpots.  Use only terra cotta or clay pots; wicker baskets are also terrific accents.

Use twiggy branches for staking taller plants, not wire hoops.  Create a trellis effect with harvested wild grape vine branches:  they'll last for years and provide a very natural background for sweet peas, morning glories, or other annual vines.

Mulching materials, where necessary, should be shredded bark or long-fibered peat moss.  White marble chips or other modern processed stone will destroy your ambiance.

Oregano

Oregano
by Phyliss Williams at K&W Greenery

The "Italian" herb, growing about 16" tall.
The flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Hardy perennial.

***

Next week, I'll have a post about the atmosphere of your cottage garden which is as important, if not more so, than the plants and flowers you put in it.  :-)

Chives

Chives
by Phyliss Williams of K&W Greenery

Another hardy favorite; this perennial herb has the largest, showiest flowers.  The grassy texture adds real interest to the garden, and the leaves add wonderful green onion flavor in dishes.

Sage

Sage
by Phyliss Williams of K&W Greenery

A fully hardy perennial herb, growing about 24 inches tall and very full.  The gray leaves have long been important in cooking, and the rounded form makes a pleasing mass.  Try one of the variegated or purple leafed varieties, too!

Rosemary

Read Introduction to English Cottage Garden Flowers

Rosemary
 by Phyliss Williams

Not winter-hardy, but worth bringing in each winter.  Can be easily trained into a small topiary tree or left to become the most deliciously pine-ish scented herb.  Tender perennial.

Mint

Read Introduction to English Cottage Garden Flowers

Mint
by Phyliss Williams

Robust, if not downright aggressive.  This hardy perennial can be invasive, so you may want to contain it in a sunken pot.  It will thrive in shady, moist locations, creeping to fill all the little bare spots between plants. 

Thyme

(Read Introduction to English Cottage Garden Flowers)


THYME
by Phyliss Williams

Low, creeping with tiny leaves and even tinier flowers, perfect for tucking between flagstones or along pathway edges.  When stepped on, the unmistakable fragrance will fill the air; no harm done unless trampled regularly.  Perennial.

Introduction to English Cottage Garden Flowers

English Cottage Garden Flowers

by Phyliss Williams

     In attempting to create an English cottage garden, hundreds, if not thousands of flower possibilities present themselves.  Because of horticultural "progress", new hybrids have replaced traditional varieties.  It is nearly impossible to locate the original varieties of many of these plants.  Remember too how important the selection of improved varieties was to these early gardeners.  They risked a great deal sometimes to bring home that new flower from the manor house.  Bigger, brighter, and more fragrant; these objectives have always been dear to the gardener's heart.  Do you really suppose they would begrudge today's gardeners the beautiful range of possibilities available?

     More important than planting the actual varieties grown in those early cottage gardens is re-creating the shapes, forms, and feeling of an English garden of long ago.  Certain flowers will suit that goal more than others.  The following list is only the briefest outline of some perennial and annual flowers for your cottage garden.  Some, such as bee balm, were never found in English cottage gardens, being native to North America.  I have included those plants because they have many of the traits valued by English cottage gardeners: hardiness, easily propagated by division, and sometimes culinary or medicinal applications.  Use these suggestions as a starting point for your own garden discovery.  Cottage gardens were highly individualistc then; they should remain your own special vision in today's garden, too.