What Is A Cottage Garden?
The use of shorter and taller plantings draws the eye up and off the ground as it follows the beautiful colors and textures in the cottage garden beds. These beautiful blue delphiniums come in dark, medium, light blue, and white. They are tall and don’t need staking but do a great job as a backdrop to your cottage garden. They are a beautiful perennial that you would sow after the last frost. They like the cool weather of springtime. For best results put the seeds in the refrigerator the week before you plant them. They come in a very tall growing variety and a dwarf version. Look here for larkspur seeds or check our Where To Buy Seeds post. These seeds can be direct sown into the garden or you can start them indoors before the last frost.
Larkspur is another beautiful plant for your Cottage Garden. They will add height and drama to your garden and will give your flowerbed that flash of color. They prefer cooler weather and you should place dampened seeds in the refrigerator for a week before sowing in your garden bed.
They grow in USDA zones 3- 9. They get to be thirty-six inches tall and are an annual plant that will need to be planted yearly in your garden.
You can purchase these beautiful cottage garden larkspur here
Here is a cottage garden fit for a proper fairy, filled with iris, a hydrangea, lemon balm, mums and bordered with an informal rock border. Strolls through the garden must include a basket for picking the herbs that grow along the pathways and made into tea when you enter the cottage.
Iris bulbs are planted in the fall for enjoyment in the springtime. They come in a variety of colors and are of a medium height to bring up the center of your Cottage garden. You want to put them in some water to soak for an hour and then put them in the ground using a hand shovel or a bulb planting tool. You want to plant them when evening temperatures are 40 – 50 degrees F. at least six to eight weeks before the first freeze. Large bulbs are planted five or six inches deep and smaller bulbs at three or four inches deep. If your winter temperatures dip into the single digits make sure you mulch your bulbs to protect them from the cold. In zones 9-11 it helps to place them in your refrigerator the week before planting outside.
Hydrangeas are a beautiful bush that comes in a variety of blooming and color options. They grow in growing zones 4 through 9. They will lose their leaves in winter in places that get cold but grow new leaves and blossoms in the spring through the summer. In places that get quite hot, they will need shade in the hottest part of the day. Otherwise partial shade. They have some varieties that are repeat bloomers but the original variety only bloom once but if you do not let them dry out, blooms on the plant last quite a long time.
Lemon Balm is just one herb variety that will work well in a cottage garden. Seeds to consider putting in your garden are dill, chives, chamomile, lavender, calendula, oregano, sage, thyme, basil. Herbs used for making teas are also a good idea to include in the garden. Don’t forget a herb harvesting basket when you go out in the cottage garden so you can pick some herbs while you are out there and a good pair of scissors.
Chrysanthemums or Mums for short will be a good choice for your cottage garden as in the summer they will just be greenery but come fall they will be in bloom when some of your other plants are no longer blooming. They will add a showy splash of color. You can buy them in the fall and overwinter them or you can start them as seeds in the springtime. They come in a wide variety of colors and shapes and they can really add beauty to your garden.
What Plants Can I Put In A Cottage Garden?
Put splashes of color and texture to shine through the spring and early summer. Just make sure to pay attention to the sun needs of each bulb, and how long they bloom so you can pair them with other plants that will take over for them when their blooms start to fade.
Hydrangeas are some of our favorite flowers for our Cottage Garden as you can see.
We have traditional varieties and newer ever bearing varieties and even some vining ones.
Lighting for your garden paths is an important way to make sure that you can enjoy the cottage garden that you worked so hard on into the evening hours. They are perfect for parties and dining out in the garden under the stars.
Garden arbors and trellising may be necessary depending on your plant choices. Keep that in mind so that you will be prepared when your garden is in all of its glory.
Knock-out roses are a great way to add beauty to your Cottage Garden. They are easy to grow, more disease resistant, and are not as particular as the traditional rose bushes. They even come in petite varieties that get only eighteen inches tall. There are the regular knock-out and a double knock-out rose and they come in red, white, yellow, coral, and pink.
Knock-out roses are hardy to zone 5. If they are not pruned they can get up to 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. A good rose feed upon planting and in the spring will make them a very happy plant.
Traditional roses made a gorgeous addition to your garden as well. They like a good rose food once a month. We like this one. They require more care than the Knock-Out variety like a good fungicide to keep the mildew off and an organic spray for insects.
They will need to be pruned regularly too to keep them blooming. We have an article on how to prune roses to help you.
There are shrub varieties, climbing varieties and even carpet varieties that spread. There are roses with huge blooms and mini roses with very tiny blossoms.
There are so many colors to choose from when selecting roses. Some have hardly any scent and some are perfume roses that smell absolutely wonderful!
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