Cottage Garden
The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure.
Cottage gardens are known for their welcoming design, featuring a rainbow of plants of varying colors and heights; an aesthetically pleasing combination of perennials and annuals. Typically cottage gardens are nestled between a white picket fence and a stone pathway or sidewalk.
Cottage garden design dictates that there are no straight lines and plants and colors are frequently repeated to create flow and harmony. Winding paths and a “bench for two” to sit and view the splendor are commonly found within these lovely gardens.
Plant list
A wild bergamot – Monarda Fistulosa
B tickseed – Coreopsis verticillate ‘Moon beam’
C honeysuckle vine
D speedwell – Veronica longifolia ‘Giles Van Hees’
E foxglove – Digitalis purpurea
F sedum – Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’
G meadow sage – Salvia pratensis ‘Caradonna’
H purple coneflower – Echinacea purpurea
J ornamental onion – Allium senescens ‘Glaucum’
K blue verain – Verbena hastata
L musk mallow – Malva moschata
M liatris blazing star – Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’
O Japanese anemone – Anemone hupehensis ‘September Charm’
P clematis – Clematis ‘Henryi White’
Q garden phlox – Phlox paniculata ‘Eva Cullum’
R foxglove beardtongue – Penstemon digitalis ‘Mystica’
T garlic chives – Allium tuberosum
W brown-eyed Susan – Rudbeckia triloba
Y yarrow – Achillea millefolium
Z dianthus – Fire Star ‘Devon Xero’
AA wild strawberry – Fragaria virginiana
CC Becky shasta daisy – Leucanthemum superbum
Garden map
Photo gallery
Purple towers of liatris attract pollinators. 
Garden phlox attract a variety of pollinators especially butterflies and moths. 
‘Caradonna’ salvia has dense, spiky, deep violet-blue flowers on unusually dark stems. 
Remove spent blooms (where the base of the bloom meets the petals) of salvia for reblooming. Salvias, in the mint family, are deer resistant. 
A garden showstopper, the Musk mallow blooms from mid-summer through fall. 
Musk mallow is an easy-to-care-for plant that attracts pollinators. 
Moonbeam Coreopsis is a terrific summer bloomer! 
Close-up of Moonbeam coreopsis. 
Coneflowers are wonderful perennials for pollinators. 
Clematis provides beautiful blooms and interesting seed heads. More than 2 dozen clematis are Zone 4 hardy. 
A spring-blooming Wisteria climbs over a trellis. Prune throughout the season to restrain growth and promote blooms. 
Wisteria, after blooming, gently shades the rest of the cottage garden. 
Here’s a garden guest, a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar 
Sunny daisies brighten the garden