Cottage garden style is all about soft lines, heirloom varieties, and unstructured flower beds. This informal style of garden is usually achieved by annuals and flowering bulbs that provide ground-level sweeps of color and by perennials that add spontaneous background highlights. Here are 17 low-maintenance plants that are must-haves for your cottage garden.
Bellflower
This easy-to-grow perennial produces white or blue flowers that grow on stiff, sturdy stems. Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia) blooms in late spring to early summer, and like most cottage garden plants, it makes a great flower for cutting.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-7, depending on variety
Bigleaf Hydrangea
With lots of exciting varieties to choose from, bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) shrubs produce large clusters of pink, blue, or white flowers in early summer. Those big blooms look gorgeous in a cut flower arrangement if you can bear to take them out of your garden.
Growing Conditions: Part sun to full shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 feet tall
Zones: 5-11
Columbine
A dainty-looking but easy-to-grow perennial, columbine (Aquilegia spp.) blooms in spring and early summer. Its colorful flowers are loved by hummingbirds and gardeners alike, making them an excellent low-maintenance cottage garden idea.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Coral Bells
These rugged, low-growing perennials boast beautiful foliage in an assortment of chartreuse, purple, red, bronze, green, and silver. In spring and early summer, some types of coral bells (Heuchera spp.) produce showy sprays of pink, red, or white flowers that attract pollinators.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 3-8
Daisy
The daisy (Leucanthemum spp.) provides long-lasting summer blooms and a classic beauty that works well in any cottage garden design. Its bright white flowers with sunny yellow centers are perfect for beds and borders and cutting gardens.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
Delphinium
Producing stately spires in shades of purple, blue, pink, and white, delphinium is one of the most regal cottage garden plants. These taller types of perennials do need staking to protect them from the wind, but they're well worth the extra work. Delphiniums are challenging to grow in areas with hot summers, so they're a better choice for cold climates.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: 4-6 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-7, depending on variety
Dianthus
Filling spring gardens with their sweet scents, dianthus varieties offer pretty blooms in shades of pink, red, and white. Deadhead the spent flowers to promote a second bloom when their flowering declines.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 1 foot tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Foxglove
This woodland beauty reliably produces beautiful upright spikes of bell-shaped flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. Common foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) often self-seed and appear each year in the garden. However, only a basal rosette of leaves is produced in the first year from seed. The plant's flowers produced in the second year sit atop leafy spires rising from the centers of the rosettes. Grow this plant with caution because all parts of it are highly poisonous.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: 2-5 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 4-8, depending on variety
Hollyhock
Always an eye-catching low maintenance cottage garden idea, hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) bear large, colorful flowers on stems that can reach 8 feet tall. They bloom in a wide range of shades, from nearly black to red, purple, yellow, and white.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and medium moist well-drained soil
Size: 6-8 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 2-10
Hollyhocks are very susceptible to a rust disease that can result in stunted growth and shriveled leaves. Look for resistant varieties and carefully check plants for small orange-yellow dots before purchase.
Iris
Many irises are wonderfully fragrant flowers, offering many blooms available in a rainbow of colors and sizes. They're an easy favorite for cottage gardens, with graceful flowers in pastel shades and lack of appeal to rabbits.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Height: to 4 feet tall
Zones: 3-8
Lady's Mantle
This classic, low-growing perennial offers sprays of chartreuse blooms in spring and green foliage that's fuzzy to the touch. That fuzz often catches early morning dewdrops, giving lady's mantle a spangled appearance. Try growing lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) as an elegant landscape edging plant along a path or at the front of a perennial border.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 3-8
Lavender
Both ornamental and useful, lavender (Lavandula spp.) bears fragrant foliage and flowers that draw pollinators. The blooms typically appear in shades of violet and white. They're lovely for drying and using in sachets and other craft projects.
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: 1-2 feet tall
Zones: 5-8, depending on variety
Peony
Peonies (Paeonia spp.) are some of the most romantic plants with their showy, petal-packed blooms. They bloom in mid-to-late spring. They look stunning, give off a wonderful fragrance, and are virtually pest-free. In addition, peonies perform well outside your garden. You can enjoy cut peonies in a vase for up to three weeks with the proper upkeep, or dry them to admire their colors even longer.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall, depending on variety
Zones: 3-8, depending on variety
Perennial Geranium
Perennial geraniums are perfect as cottage garden plants, large and small. An especially impressive variety is 'Johnson's Blue', which offers beautiful blue-purple flowers in early summer. These plants also have vibrant foliage colors in the fall.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 4-8
Phlox
One of the boldest plants in late-summer gardens, garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) produces stunning clusters of white, pink, lavender, and red blooms atop tall stems. The flowers are often delightfully fragrant, and they attract hummingbirds and other pollinators like butterflies.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 4 feet, depending on variety
Zones: 4-8
Sweet William
A biennial that typically self-seeds, sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) produces beautiful clusters of fragrant blooms from late spring to early summer. The flowers come in vivid red, pink, white, and bi-color shades. The blooms make gorgeous additions to flower bouquets, and they attract pollinators.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 3-9, depending on variety
Pansies and Violas
With their edible and fragrant blooms, pansies and violas (Viola spp.) are among the most charming flowers for cottage gardens. These cool-weather lovers will add color to your garden in spring and often bloom again in fall.
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and evenly moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 9 inches tall
Zones: 6-11, depending on variety