Cottage garden plants

Plants suited to a cottage garden planting scheme.

The cottage garden is a romantic, generous muddle: roses tumbling over self-seeding hardy annuals, foxgloves rising through hollyhocks, with barely a glimpse of bare soil. The art is in the apparent lack of art, so plant densely, mix flowers with herbs and even vegetables, and let things lean and seed about. Avoid straight rows and rigid blocks, which break the spell. A cottage scheme leans heavily on old-fashioned perennials, fragrant roses and informal climbers, with succession planting so something is always coming into flower. Soft pinks, blues, whites and the odd hot accent suit the mood. These plants are the traditional cottage-garden staples that give a border that abundant, comfortably overgrown character.

Border Builder is a garden border planner for iPhone and iPad. Pick from the 413 plants below and it works them into a full plan: how many of each, where they go, and how the bed reads through the seasons.

413 plants for this

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