These are my most favourite plants, that I use to create my cottage garden.
This cottage garden is actually in an urban city, surrounded by houses, but it is a haven for the wildlife. We have bees, butterflies, dragonflies, badgers, foxes and squirrels.
It is a style of flower beds that I love, very full, you can’t see the soil (or weeds!) and everything just grows into each other.
It does take a certain amount of trust, to achieve this full growing into each other look, as starting with tiny plants and bare soil it is hard to imagine what it will become in full bloom. And it is not for you if you like a very formal garden, with space between each plant.
List of plants in my cottage garden
Here is a list of the plants that are in the garden and some notes about each of them.
For my plants I grow what I can from seed, if you have room on window sills and then a green house. I have a temporary greenhouse I build each year, use and then dismantle.
Then I also purchase plants online, from supermarkets & local garden centres. Buying smaller seedlings and plug plants where possible as they are cheaper.
I started this garden from bare soil (after I had cleared the existing overgrown shrubs and weeds) in one growing season.
All the images in this post are from my garden in Summer 2024. (please don’t use any images without asking me)
The advice I give for growing each plant is what I have done that works for me – but check labels :)
I have more information on stopping slugs, how to look after your garden, how to plant seeds, how to pot on your seedlings on the blog.
Achillea Millefolium | Common Yarrow
I grew the white Achillea Millefolium Common Yarrow last year from a small plant in the flower bed.
The Achillea Millefolium do come in lots of colours though.
Achillea Millefolium
Perennials – grow back each year
The Achillea Millefolium have lovely delicate flowers and are great for the middle of the bed, mine grey to around 70cm tall.
Flowers June – September
Alliums
Alliums are just magnificent! The purple or white big fluffy ball that the bees love.
Most alliums are planted as bulbs in the late autumn and then start to grow in early spring.
But if you missed out planting them then, you can buy ones already growing online and from garden centres in early spring, choose ones with the flowers not opened to make sure you have open flowers in the garden fro as long as possible.
My favourite are Allium Globemaster as they have grown the tallest and biggest.
I also had Allium Purple sensations that are smaller in height and the flower balls are only about 7cm wide, they bloomed in early spring.
Allium Millennium are much shorter plants that don’t bloom until around August time and you get lots of them in a bush effect. You can purchase these as plants in Spring for some new colour later in the summe
Alliums
Plant as bulbs in early to mid-Autumn, around October
Buy Alliums as plants at the start of the year ready for putting in the garden around April time
Allium Millenium can be purchased in late spring still
Ammi visnaga & Ammi majus
I grew the Ammi Majus from seeds from Sarah Raven last year, and then purchased plants of the Ammi Visnaga, also from Sarah Raven
The Ammi Majus grew to 5ft and are for the back of the border. The white flowers are just beautiful and even when they fade the plants still look beautifully structural.
The Ammi Visnaga are more busy but still grow to a really good height.
The ladybirds loved these.
Ammi majus & Ammi Visnaga
Annual – Lasts for one year
Grow seeds inside / under cover from Feb/March. Direct sow March – May.
(Can be grown from seeds Aug/Sept for follwoing year)
Or buy plants ready for the garden from May.
Antirrhinums
Antirrhinums (more commonly known as snapdragons) are a lovely addition to your cottage garden. The come in lots of styles and colours. I have grown the Twilight Mix variety for the last few years from seeds.
Antirrhinum
Annual – Lasts for one year
Grow seeds inside / under cover from Feb/March. Plant out after the last frost.
Flowers from June – October
Asters
My Asters tend to flower July – September and are a lovely later pop of colour with their delicate petals.
Aster
Annual – Lasts for one year
Grow seeds inside / under cover from Feb/March. Plant out after the last frost
Cosmos
My favourite are Cosmos Cupcake, I have grown these from seed the last couple of years and will be again this year.
You end up with a mix of white and pink plants, and some double petals too. They last for months – especially if you are vigilant with your dead heading.
I grew the Cosmos Sensation for the first time last year from seed and they were quite the suprise! They grew to 5ft tall with really thick middle trunk and just kept flowering for months, well into October.
Cosmos
Annual – Lasts for one year
Grow seeds* inside / under cover from Feb/March. Plant out after the last frost.
You can also buy seedlings*
Delphinium
No cottage garden is complete without some Delphiniums*
You can grow these from seeds either in the ground or green house Aug/Sept time for the next year.
I haven’t done this, and have just purchased small 9cm pot plants from a mix of Sarah Raven* (often in the sale!), B&Q, supermarkets and local garden centres.
They are perennials, so will die down then grow back the following year, often bigger and better.
They are often £7 or less for the small 9cm pots that you plant in the ground in early spring (after the last frost) and they grow & flower that year.
And the flowers are just magnificent! They burst into life and are a real show stopper.
Delphiniums will usually need staking, I use these from Amazon* that are 36″ tall, so you can get them far into the ground and they stand firm. Some of mine are going into their 4th year and are like new.
Delphiums
Perennials – grow back each year
They can be grown from seed, but I have had little success so just buy small plants in the spring and plant out (after last frost), they will come back the following years.
I have grown into flowerbeds and pots
Dianthus barbatus ‘Electron Mix’
More commonly known as Sweet William, I grew these Dianthus barbatus ‘Electron Mix’* from seed for the first time in winter 2023 and kept in the greenhouse over winter and planted out in Spring 2024.
They were such lovely colours and flowered for months.
Dianthus barbatus – Sweet William
Biennial – Grow from seed the previous winter for the next spring
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
I first added Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’* to my garden in 2023, bought as plants and put in the flower bed.
I transported 2 plants from our old house to the new and they were even more magnificent the second year. But the first year still had lots of the magnificent blue / purple balls of deleciate little petals.
The bees really love them.
The leaves are a dark green and the plant spreads each year.
You can also purchase as bare roots. These come not in a pot, but you just put them into a pot, or straight into the flower bed when they arrive.
Foxgloves
One of the most classic Cottage Garden Plants
They are a Biennial, which means in simple terms you plant the seeds in the winter before you are going to have flowers. Either into the ground or into pots and store over winter ina green house.
Or you buy plants foxglove plants in spring time. I buy mine early spring from Supermarkets, B&Q or online at Sarah Raven*
You will find they will also self seed, means that seeds will drop out of the plants into the ground for next year. I am writing this in Feb 2026, and I cleared my flower beds last weekend and found a few foxgloves that have self seeded from last year, a couple of plants less to buy this year.
Foxgloves
Biennials – grow from seed the winter before you want flowers
Sarah Raven*Or buy small plants in spring from Supermarkets, B&Q or Sarah Raven
Galega Officinalis Mix | Goats Rue
Last year was te first time I grew the Galega officinalis mixed Goat’s Rue.
And my trusty spreadsheet of plants purchased and heights let me down, the was a slight user error of their height. They actually grow to 100cm, and not the 20cm I thought!
I had put the 4 plants at the front of the flower bed spaced out.
And it was quite a suprosed when they just kept growing, but it was a happy error int he end as they were wonderful! The have unusual shapped leaves and then delicate flowers and with dead heading they kept flowering for months.
Galega officinalis mixed – Goat’s Rue
Perennial – Comes back each year.
Buy small plants in spring and plant out after last frost has passed.
Heliotropium arborescens ‘Midnight Sky’
I purchased 4 Heliotropium arborescens ‘Midnight Sky’* plants in the Sarah Raven sale last year and they were a lovely suprise. They are low growing so for the front of the borders.
They are a wonderful deep purple colour and a mass of little flowers, and they lasted for months. Dead heading encouraged new blooms.
They also have a wonderful sent and are loved by the bees.
Heliotropium arborescens ‘Midnight Sky’
Annual
Buy small plants in spring and plant out after last frost has passed.
Lobelia
I always have lots of lobelia around the garden. I put it at the edges of the flower beds so it grows over, on the edges of pots and window boxes.
In 2023 I grew lobelia from seed, but it was really pathetic, so made a large note in my garden notebook to not bother again and just buy trays from the garden centre.
In early spring you can buy trays with lots of plants in for quite cheap, so I just do that now.
I buy trailnig varieties so it grows along and down over the edges rather than up.
Lobelia
Annual – lasts one season
Buy in trays from the garden centre
Lupins
No cottage garden is completely without Lupins*
I grow mine both in pots and in the flower beds. They’re avaiable in lots of different colours, I stay with my colour theme of white, pink and purple.
Once the flower head has died you can cut it off and then you will likely get a second flower later in the summer.
The bees love them, as do sadly the slugs when they’re small.
I also love their leaves, when it rains the droplets site on them and are so pretty.
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
Perennial
I buy small plants early spring, from supermarkets, B&Q or online at Sarah Raven*
Phlox
There are lots of varieties of Phlox* available, they flower at different times of the spring and summer.
My favourties last year were Phlox divaricata ‘Clouds of Perfume* that flowers May – June, so nice and early. It smells wonderful too. Low growing for the front of your flower beds.
Phlox paniculata ‘Blue Paradise’* also has a wonderful scent, growing taller to 90cm (mine didn’t get quite that tall) And flowers July – August.
Nemesia
Nemesia* was new to me in summer 2024 in the garden, and I got quite addicted to buying them!
They come in lots of different varieties and colours, mainly all in my colour schemes, the flowers lasted for months, and if dead headed came back.
The are great on the edge of the flower bed or pots, as they are compact growing about 20-30cm tall.
They also smell amazing!
I purchased mine from Sarah Raven* and also some from Waitrose
Poppies
I first grew poppies from seed in 2023, I grew the Candy Floss Poppies from seed*
And they were magnificent!
Poppy seeds are tiny, just a little dot, so a little fiddly to grow, but they also germinate easily. See my post about growing plants from seeds here.
In 2024 I also grew some poppies from seeds that a neighbour gave me, this is the great thing about Poppies, they produce millions of seeds, so you just save them for next year.
I really love the Candy Floss Poppy variety* as they vary from dark almost purple to the lightest pink and the petals are almost fluffy.
But Poppies come in lots of colours, so something to suit your garden colour plan.
Poppies
Annual – Lasts for one year
Grow seeds inside / under cover from Feb/March. Plant out after the last frost.
Flowers from May – August
Salvia
Another cottage garden staple is Salvia* and it comes in lots of diferent varieties.
All are annuals and will come back the following year(s)
Plants I have are
Salvia ‘Amistad’* & Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’* – Grows to 1.5 metres, last year mine flowered in August and still had flowers in December!
Salvia nemorosa* Grows up to 60cm, I had this variety in pink and purple in pots on my potting bench display, dead head it and more will grow and flower.
The third type of Salvia is the variety with little flowers that smell amazing, of a peppery scent. I ahve a few around the garden including Salvia x jamensis ‘Nachtvlinder’*, Salvia greggii ‘Mirage Blue’* and Salvia greggii ‘Cherry Lips’* these grow to around 60cm and are quite bushy and full, I put them at the front of the borders, so when you walk past you get the amazing scent come up.
Salvias
Perenials
Buy as small plants, plant out after last frost. Will come back year after year.
Scorpion Weeds
I first grew these from seeds in 2023, and I picked them as I liked the flower picture on the packet. Not actually reading about how they grew!
It became clear one they were in the ground why they have the name weed! There actual name is Phacelia tanacetifolia, but commonly known as Scorpion Weed*.
The bees really love them, a they can grow to a metre tall and have a good spread. The purple flowers are just stunning and there are lots of them.
Scorpion Weeds
Annual – Lasts for one year
Buy seeds here*
Grow seeds inside / under cover from Feb/March. Plant out after the last frost.
Flowers from May – August
Sweet Alyssum
It comes in the pink, purple, lilac and white colours that I use in my garden, and just kept producing more of the little delicate flowers all summer.
I buy in trays fromt he garden centre to use all around the garden.
Sweet Alyssum
Annual – lasts one season
Buy in trays from the garden centre
Sweet Peas
It makes you spend 10 minutes in the garden every morning cutting them and getting to enjoy the sites, smells and sounds of the garden.
I grow mine from seed in March, I tried and failed using toilet rolls and have just used normal pots after that. But I think I might invest in these Rootrainers* this year.
I build a trellis for them, you can watch how on my TikTok here.
You don’t need a big trellis though, you can grow them in a pot with a wigwam of sticks even. They just need soemthing to hang onto as they grow up.
Sweet Peas
Annual – lasts one season
I grow from seeds* but you can buy as seedlings* too, ready to go in the ground after the last frost has passed.
Toadflax
Another new plant in 2024 for me, again liking the photo on the seed packet.
Their actual name is Linaria Maroccana*
These were lovely delicate flowers, at the top of 30- 45 cm stalks.
I grew them from seed in March. If you dead head them you will get more flowers come back.
Toad Flax
Annual – lasts one season
I grow from seed indoors / undercover & then ready to go in the ground after the last frost has passed.
Verbena
There are several different types of Vebena
I buy as small plants from Sarah Raven*
I have had Verbena bonariensis* for many years in my gardens, it grows up to 6ft tall with its thin stems and little purple flowers. Flowing all summer long from June- November. A tip is to not cut it back until Spring, as it will be protected from frost better.
Verbena officinalis var. grandiflora ‘Bampton’* was new to me last year, and I really love it, the little pink flowers are so pretty and unusual. I have 5 plants around the garden.
Verbena rigida* was also a new plant last year, it is more busy than the others, and has little puf ball pink flowers.
Verbena
Perenial – comes back each year.
I buy as small plants in early spring, but you can grow some from seeds.
Veronica
I love Veronica, The purple spike are so dramatic and last for ages. The bees also love them.
Veronica
Perenial – comes back each year.
I buy as small plants in early spring.
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