Perennials
Perennials weave the thread of reliability and beauty in the cottage garden. Our choices are based on an abundance of blooms, the ease of growing, and their traditional value in the cottage garden. We find that most will bloom the very first year. We've also added general bloom times for each plant genre. The bloom categories are as follows: Spring, Late Spring/ Early summer, Summer, Summer/Fall. Actual bloom times can vary depending on your zone and seasonal conditions and many plants continue to bloom sporadically through the season. All plants are grown in packs of four.
Achillea or Yarrow
Sun, Zone 3-8, EASY (to grow), Summer. The easiest of all perennials to grow, they are also most versatile. Their colorful umbels bloom over a long period, tolerate drought, and can be cut for fresh or dried bouquets. They are fragrant, attract birds, and repel deer. It's everything we want in a garden plant.
240. Flower Burst Red
A wonderful new blend of vibrant reds, pinks, and violet shades. Achillea is reliable, easy and long blooming; it will brighten most anyone's garden regardless of experience. Plants grow about 2 1/2ft. tall with 2-4 inch umbels and soft foliage.
Alchemilla or Lady's Mantle
Shade or Part Sun, Zones 4-7 EASY, Summer. This lovely plant produces sprays of chartreuse flowers that make excellent filler in bouquets. A nice foliage plant, you can't help but notice the way the fan shaped leaves collect the morning dewdrops.
250. Thriller
The vibrant spring green color of this plant will make the shady spots in your garden shine. This plant does well in either shade or sun forming neat 18" mounds of velvety leaves. The flower sprays rise up like a cloud over the foliage in June and July. The stems are strong for cutting.
Alcea or Hollyhocks
Sun, Zone 3-7, EASY, Summer/fall.We see them everywhere in the American landscape; towering clusters of flowers standing alongside barns and homes in the country and city. They are easy to grow and self sustaining, bringing much needed color late in the season. In 1888, Dreers garden catalog said this: "It is not surprising that this old-fashioned favorite should again become popular. They are a marvel of beauty and elegance."
260. Creme de Cassis
Each raspberry colored blossom is shaped like a ladies petticoat with lighter colored flared edges and deep colored veins. Blossoms can be doubles or singles on the same stem and all have a bright yellow eye. A classic cottage garden plant.
270. Graceful Gardens Mix
We've saved the seeds from our old fashioned single and occasional double flowered hollyhocks choosing from the most vibrant colors of pink, red, yellow and deep dark purple. Their long bloom period and prominent stature created a spectacular display next to our home.
300. Summer Carnival
These romantic double blooms are in shades of deep crimson, rose, red, yellow, and white, reach 3 to 5 ft., and attract butterflies. Blooming the first year, they give the effect you want the very first season.
Aquilegia or Columbine
Sun or Shade, Zone 3-8, EASY, Spring. Delicate and intricate in design, these exquisite springtime blooms dance high above their mounds of lacy foliage. They are an easy way to bring color to the shady parts of the garden and can bloom well into summer. While deer pass them by, the hummingbirds hover ready to perform their pollinating job.
325. Dragonfly- NEW
A classic columbine with long graceful spurs, its abundance of flowers keep the hummingbirds coming over its long bloom period. The flowers are extra large and come in a multiple of sumptuous colors. The plants are of medium height and grow to about 2 ft.
330. McKana Giant Mix
An ornate, long spurred, jewel of a flower in a festive mix of pink, blue, maroon, red, yellow, rose, and white with contrasting centers. The plants reach 30" tall.
340. Nora Barlow Mix
These traditional cottage garden columbines now come in a new mix of colors including rose, blue, white, and purple. The plants grow to 2 1/2 ft. bearing fully double spurless flowers with fine clover-like foliage.
Campanula
Sun or Part Shade, Zone 3-8, Late Spring/Early Summer, Summer. The versatility of this genus is astounding. The large and small dangling or sometimes upright bells come in shades of blue, pink, and pure white with foliage in a variety of habits. Each species provides something special to our garden. Campanula bloom in the heat of summer, add splashes of color for the rest of the season, and are often the mainstay of the English cottage garden.
350. Bellringers
Clusters of nodding bells in a range of shades from pale pink to a rich burgundy. They bloom profusely all season even in late October with flurries in the air. The pendulous bells have maroon spotted interiors. Grow to 2ft. tall.
370. Carpatica Blue Clips
The "clip" series are marvelous and durable plants. Their upright 1 1/2" blue bells inundate the mounded 8" tall foliage. The Clips are also excellent to edge paths and driveways and bloom the first year.
380. Carpatica White Clips
Same as the blue clips but in pure white. The best part about Clips is they bloom all summer!
390. Glomerata
Dense clusters of spectacular violet blue flowers adorn the tips of the 15-18" tall stems. They bloom June through July spreading 1 1/2-- 2 ft. Very easy self sufficient plants, blooming the first year.
400. Persicifolia Blue
Large, starry, bell-shaped flowers on 2 1/2 ft. stems over neat and low growing foliage. Long lived and easy to grow, they also make an excellent cut flower.
410. Persicifolia White
Pure luminescent white star shaped bells on sturdy stems with the same tidy foliage as the above blue.
Centaurea
Sun, Zone 3-8, EASY, Late Spring/Early summer. These frilly and flamboyant blue flowers of this perennial cornflower are effortless to grow and are known to repel deer. Sheer them back after the first flush of blooms and be rewarded with more blooms all season.
420. Montana
Growing 12" tall and wide with huge corn flower blue blooms. These perennial "bachelor buttons" like sun and good drainage.
Cerastium
430. Silver Carpet
We saw a beautiful example of these plants at our neighbors home where the path to their house was lined on both sides by Cerastium with a backdrop of blue Lavender plants. Both enjoy sun and well drained soil.
Cheiranthus or Wallflower
Sun, Zones 3-7, Spring and Fall. The most fragrant flower we've ever grown. It is much like an Evening scented Stock but hardier. It likes cool temperatures so its peak bloom season is in the spring and early summer and then again in the fall.
440. Fragrant Bedder
We've mixed the two most brilliant colors of the bedding type: golden yellow and deep burnt orange. They grow to 1- 1 1/2 ft. tall emitting the most compelling and lovely fragrance.
Coreopsis
Sun, Zone 3-9, EASY, Late Spring/Early summer. These cheery, yellow daisy-like flowers bloom in profusion well above their neat mounds of foliage. So reliable, they are a favorite in our daughter Esperanza's garden.
450. Sunfire
A large flowered coreopsis with single petals and a dark center. Blooms early and in the first year while withstanding the heat of summer.
460. Early Sunrise
Early and long blooming, 18" high plants with 2" semi-double, bright yellow daisies. After the first flush they bloom lightly all summer.
Dianthus
Sun or Part Shade, Zone 3-9, Late Spring/Early summer; Amazing in their diversity, these old fashioned "Pinks" produce a wealth of flowers with a spicy fragrance.
470. Ideal
These traditional cottage pinks dapple the garden with just the right amount of color. Painted on delicate fringed petals, their vibrant mix of colors includes carmine, crimson, deep violet, pink, raspberry, rose, violet, cherry, and cherry and violet picotee. They bloom early and continuously all summer and withstand hot spells. These are very beautiful and carefree plants. Grow to about a foot high.
480. Sweet William
The best cut flower we've ever grown, lasting weeks. Enchanting and old-fashioned, we've had many people remembering this one from their grandmother's garden! A rich variety of color, these flowers are beautifully marked with pink and red, bicolored and white; appearing in clusters at the end of a 2' stem. They are especially beautiful in combination with Lupines!
490. Zing Rose
A profusion of small vibrant rose flowers growing just above a dense green mat. Spreading nicely, they are hardy, easy to grow, and long lived. Beautiful along walkways or in front of the border, they tolerate either shade or sun.
Digitalis or Foxglove
Sun or Shade, Zone 4-8, EASY, Late Spring/Early Summer. Dramatic and old-fashioned, these tall majestic plants are the heart and soul of cottage gardens.
500. Camelot
Huge tubular bells with speckled throats form lavender rose or cream colored spikes that bloom the first year.
510. Candy Mountain
The upward facing bells allow a clear view deep inside the speckled pink bells. The stems are extra sturdy and packed with florets that often bloom the first year.
520. Excelsior
This is the traditional Foxglove seen surrounding the thatched cottages of England. Four ft. tall with densely clustered bells in shades of pink with highly visible intricate interior bell markings.
530. Foxy
Shades of pink, purple, and white tubular flowers hang in abundance from these 2-3' tall Foxglove that will bloom reliably the first year.
550. Pam's Choice
Clusters of white bells reveal deep maroon throats that speckle at the edge. They grow 3-4 feet high.
560. Primrose Carousal
We are happy to grow again an old favorite. This moonlight yellow foxglove is a true perennial, lasting years and years in the garden. It's neat mound of foliage sends up stalks of clustered bells for the late spring garden.
563. Silver Fox- NEW
Another beautiful foxglove with an added bonus: gorgeous silver downy foliage! They are wonderfully reliable and hardy. The palest of pink bells (almost white) with speckled interiors adorn 2 ½ ft stems. They are perfect for your cottage garden.
Echinacea
Sun, Zone 3-9, Summer/fall. A known herbal cold remedy, Echinacea is also a beautiful pink or white daisy over 4" wide with a dark cone shaped center. The long bloom season is undisturbed by summer's heat and the deer ignore it. After the petals fade, the remaining cone continues to offer an attractive accent to the garden and also serves as food for songbirds.
570. Primadonna
This prairie beauty was made for the hot dry conditions of summer. Large 5-6" deep colored rosy flowers blossom midsummer to fall. Growing to about 3 ft. tall, they develop long lived dense clumps creating a backbone to the cottage garden.
580. White Swan
The pure white petals of the bloom are fragrant and attract butterflies and finches very late into the season. .
590. Prairie Splendor
In 2007 Prairie Splendor was voted the Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner! Blooms two weeks earlier than most coneflowers providing a longer season for your coneflower bed. Blossoms are extra large with bright rosy petals extending the blossom to 3-4 inches. Shorter and compact,they grow to 2 ft.
Echinops
Zones 3-8, Sun, Summer. A cultivated and unique ornamental thistle, having masses of steel blue globular flowers. The blooms attract butterflies and are excellent cut flowers. They grow to 4 ft. tall with each flower on a long stem.
610. Blue Glow
An improved selection with a more intense strong blue color and more compact habit. The deer have shown no interest in this plant. Excellent color choice for mid to late summer.
Gaillardia
Zones 3-9, Sun, Easy, Summer/fall.The bright gold and burgundy flowers are excellent garden performers through the height of summer. These easy to grow perennials do just as their common name implies: blanket your garden with vibrant color.
620. Arizona Sun
Award winning, thanks to the abundant and huge flowers on a compact plant. Put this in the garden bed or patio pot for vibrant yellow and red all summer through fall. 12" tall.
621. Arizona Sun Red Shades- NEW
Offers the same habit as Arizona Sun but all with deep crimson blooms. They have a long bloom season from early summer to fall.
Geum
Sun or Part shade, Zone 4-8, EASY, Summer. A charming small plant with rose like blossoms as they are in the rose family. Their foliage stays low in neat mounds. Flowering stems are sent up during June and July in our garden.
650. Mrs. Bradshaw
A traditional cottage garden plant with semi-double and double 2" glowing red flowers. They grow 1-1/2 ft tall in our garden.
Gypsophila
Sun, Zone 3-8, Summer. A cloud of tiny star white flowers bring a delicate balance of soft and bright to the garden or fresh bouquet. They bloom in July over a long period; stems can be picked in their prime and hung to dry for later use. "Once planted and known, no garden will be without this graceful elegant, and above all beautiful pure white flower. Try it and it will win your love forever." -Salzers garden catalog of 1890.
660. Snowflake
Some plants will produce double flowers, some single, but both are extraordinarily dainty and graceful. We've used this variety for years in our fresh and dried bouquets.
Heliopsis
680. Summer Sun
These yellow daisies are 3" across and will bloom the first year. Easy to grow giving a strong show throughout the summer.
Heuchera or Coral Bells
Sun or Shade, Zone 3-9, Late Spring-Summer. The favorite of hummingbirds, they will spend hours going from one tiny bell to the next. Beautiful plants that are simple to grow with attractive foliage appearing in tidy mounds. Bloom heavily in June and July, and keep sending a few flower stalks up most of the summer.
690. Firefly
Vibrant pink-red flowers 20" above evergreen foliage.
700. Palace Purple
Large ivy shaped leaves that are mahogany red above, And beet red below. Beautiful for their foliage as well as the sprays of white flowers 12" above.
Iberis or Candytuft
Sun, Zone 3-8, Spring. This is the perfect plant for defining the edges of your garden, trimming the walkway, filling in with a groundcover or starting a rock garden. A native of southern Europe, it has found a welcome home across the U.S. where its easy to grow habit makes it a dependable bloomer.
720. Snow White
The spreading 6" plants are adorned with a mass of white flowers that blossom in the spring with a sporadic encore of blooms through the season. An added bonus: the deer are repelled by them!
Lavender
Sun, Zone 5-7, Summer. Who can resist the beautiful perfume of lavender? Their small blue spikes reach high above the foliage. They can be picked and dried in bunches for a fragrant decoration. A well drained sunny location will make them thrive and keep the deer at bay.
735. Ellagance- NEW
This heavenly fragrant lavender comes from the Royal Horticultural Society and is a Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winner. An early first year bloomer, it has uniform size of about a foot and is delightfully fragrant with bright blue/purple blooms. (Zones 5-9)
740. Hidcote
Midnight blue flowers reaching 1-11/2 ft. tall with a delightful fragrance.
750. Munstead
A spray of fragrant lilac flowers, 1 ft. high. Excellent for sachets.
Liatris
Sun, Zone 3-9, Summer. These beautiful feathery spikes make wonderful cut flowers and provide the garden with lots of color from midsummer to late in the season.
760. Floristan Violet
Stately plants with low growing blades of grassy foliage. Rose purple flower stalks rising 2 ft. above. Butterflies eagerly seek them.
Lobelia
Zones 5-9, Shade or Sun, Easy, Summer/fall. The long tubular blossoms make a hummingbird's delight. Never have we seen such pure vibrant reds and blues as these. Lobelia can tolerate wet conditions and while canoeing we saw many growing wild around a nearby lake and the hummingbirds were feasting.
770. Fan Blue
A vigorous bloomer with blue tubular flowers growing 2 feet or so tall with a summer long bloom season. A fleuroselect gold medal winner. Zones 6-10.
780. Great Blue
For late summer blue blooms these are the ones to choose. The stems are 2-3 ft. tall and clustered with deep throated flowers that humming- birds love. Grow easily and are adaptable to moist shady areas.
790. Queen Victoria
This old variety from the 1930's has lovely bronze to maroon foliage and complimentary clear scarlet red flowers. They grow easily to 2-3 feet. (zone 6+)
Lupines
800. Gallery Blue
Shades of blue often with a touch of white.
810. Gallery Pink
A nice shade of pink often with a dash of white.
820. Gallery Red
A vivid red that always brings compliments in our garden.
830. Gallery Mix
A random mix of colors.
Lychnis
Sun, Zone 4-9, Easy, Summer. These Victorian plants sparkle with magenta flowers and complimentary silvery leaves. Their easy carefree habit encompasses the essence of cottage gardening.
840. Coronaria
Rosettes of velvety silver leaves give way to the rising 2 ft. flower stalks that bear simple but vibrant magenta flowers.
Malva
Zones 4-8, Sun, EASY, Late Spring-Summer. Cheery saucer like blooms adorn multibranched stems that reach 2-3 feet tall. These relatives of Hollyhocks are easy to grow, colorful, and free flowering all season.
850. Mystic Merlin
A mix of colorful blooms from deep purple to mauve and deep blue. An easy long blooming landscape plant often getting 5 ft. tall.
Monarda
Shade or Sun, Zone 4-9, EASY, Summer. These mint family plants put out a spectacular display of flowers July through August and are absolutely irresistible to hummingbirds.
870. Panorama Mix
Shades of scarlet, red, pink, and salmon with highly fragrant foliage.
880. Red Shades
Selected for their vibrant red colors and resistance to powdery mildew.
Poppies
Sun, Zone 3-7, Spring through Late Spring/Early summer. Stunning in size and brilliance of color, poppies will provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Tuck in the back of the border as the foliage will temporarily disappear in summer.
909. Fruit Punch
Silky ruffled blooms 5 inches across in wild shades of red, hot pink, orange, and plum, all with black centers. They can stand up to all kinds of weather.
910. Great Red
Spectacular classic red Poppies that display 8 inch flowers with black centers and tissue paper petals. They stand 4 ft. tall.
920. Pizzicato
The best new semi dwarf variety and winner of the 1995 Fleuroselect Gold Medal. Flowers range from 6-8" across on sturdy 2 ft. stems that hold up even in windy conditions. Prolific with a color range that includes pale pink to rose, salmon, and scarlet; all with black centers.
925. Royal Wedding- NEW
A truly special poppy with huge satiny petals of shimmering white. The centers are marked in a deepest dark purple. An elegant bride for your cottage garden. The plants grow to 30 inches.
Penstemon
Sun or Part Shade, Zone 4-8. These colorful snapdragon-like flowers bloom all summer with the greatest profusion in June. Vaughns garden catalog of 1891 says, "Perhaps no class of plants are so valuable for producing a mass of bloom during the summer months as these. So grand are they in fact, when massed in beds and border that no words can adequately express their magnificence." They attract hummingbirds and songbirds, help repel deer, and make a great cut flower.
940. Mystica
Deep maroon leaves hightlight this plant while sprays of white flowers emerge from thin slender stalks in the middle.
950. Rondo
At 15" keep these plants close to the front of the border where you can enjoy their many wonderful shades of pink, purple, carmine, and rose bells.
Perovskia or Russian Sage
Sun, Zones 5-9. There is no tougher plant out there with the beauty to match. With scented leaves and airy blue flowers, the provide a long season of bloom in the hottest time of the summer.
960. Russian Sage
Plant as a group or border in the hot spots of your flower patch and keep the garden color coming. The light blue spikes work well with all the colors of your garden. They grow to about 3 feet and a spread of 2 feet. They are drought tolerant and deer resistant.
Physotegia
Sun, Zone 2-9, 2-3 ft. tall, EASY, Summer/fall. Excellent perennials for late summer/fall color. Their appearance is neat and blooms are much like the snapdragon in the way they cluster up the stem.
970. Rose Queen
A nice clear, deep rose color, exceptionally easy to grow, spreading without being invasive. They love full sun, a well drained site and repel deer.
Platycodon
Full Sun and Light Shade, Zone 3-8, Summer. Such easy flowers to grow, giving the gardener a lifetime of blooms throughout the height of midsummer.
980. Hakone Double Blue
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A deep blue color with buds resembling small inflated balloons. They blossom into five pointed star shaped bells. Grow 16 " tall.
Polemonium
Part sun or shade, zones 4-7, Spring. Our Jacobs Ladder has been growing happily in our shade garden for over 15 years. It is a testament to its ease of growth. We have not done anything special to it in all those years and yet it rewards us with clear blue flowers and fernlike foliage.
990. Pearl Blue
Azure blue blossoms for the shady side of the garden. Grow to 16". The pretty green alternating leaflets form a ladder-like pattern. Trim them back and they will bloom again later in the season.
Potentilla
Sun, Zones 5-8, Summer. Potentillas are easy perennials that love sunny, dry locations. Trim them back each spring to promote new growth and more blooms.
991. Monarch's Velvet
This is the perfect quick filler for your garden. They are 24" mounded plants with leaves like a strawberry plant. The following year and thereafter it is full of deep wine red flowers with a crimson velvet center throughout the summer.
Primula
Part Sun or Shade, Zone 5-8, Spring. Blooming in early spring with an amazing array of colors, they beckon the beginning of the warm season to come. Grown in shade, they will bloom all summer and into early winter here in the North.
1000. Pacific Giants Mix
Only 8" high, but with huge flower heads. A fine mix of colors including white, pink, blue, carmine, red, purple, yellow, and white. Although there are many varieties of Primrose available,we find this variety to be the hardiest and most adaptable to a wide range of conditions, (without sacrificing beauty).
Pyrethrum
Sun, Zone 4-9, Late Spring/Early summer. These charming daisies come in cheerful colors of red and pink, bloom early in the season, and do best in a well drained site.
1030. Robinson Giant Crimson
Selected for its velvety red daisies that bloom the first season above fern-like foliage.
1040. Robinson Select
An antique variety of brilliant 4" daisy flowers in shades of pink to red with a bright yellow center.
Rudbeckia
Sun, Zone 3-9, EASY, Summer/fall. The classic American flower, familiar to all. Beautiful in mass or in small clumps through the garden.
1050. Cappuccino
Vivid yellow blooms with mahogany center rings shower the garden with color all season long.
1060. Goldsturm
Giant 4" flowers on 2 ft. plants that bloom all season long. Long-lived and hassle-free plants. Favorites for mid to late season color.
1070. Indian Summer
Enormous 6-9" yellow semi- double and single blooms on 3' tall plants, yet require no staking. Excellent for cutting.
Salvia
Sun or Light Shade, Zone 4-9, EASY, Early Summer-Summer. These deep blue spikes provide a sweep of blue early in the garden season and continue to do so over a long period. They are hardy, long lived, and very easy to grow.
1090. Blue Queen
A part of our garden for many years they reliably produce an intense navy blue color on 11/2 -2 ft. tall plants.
Shasta Daisy
Sun, Zone 5-8, EASY, Summer. These simple and classic daisies fit into everyone's garden. Their big and bold white petals compliment all the other flowers.
1100. Bright Side
The tall white oxford daisy with extra large flowers have everything you look for in a flower: beauty, a great cut flower, hummingbirds and butterflies love them, and they are tough!
1110. Snow Lady
Blooms four weeks earlier than other Shastas. Forms a compact 10-12" mound that is smothered in blooms all season long.
Thymus
Sun, Zone 4-8, EASY, Early Summer. The sweet scented foliage smothered in purple flowers, creeps along the edge of your garden and between stones and walkways.
1140. Mother of Thyme
The sweet aromatic leaves form dense mats for the hot dry places along your garden path and banks.
Veronica
Sun, Zone 4-8, EASY, Summer. These genteel plants provide a profusion of blue or pink spikes creating a truly Victorian ambiance in your garden. The blooms make a sweet cut flower.
1160. Sightseeing
A blend of white, pink, and blue flowers growing to 28" tall. They are very easy to grow.
Violas
Part Sun or Shade, Zone 5-8, EASY, Spring. The mere mention of violets conjures up images of innocent romantic notions from days of old. The sweet faces painted on the petals cheer the heart with hope. Easy to grow in shade or woodland settings and even in part sun.
1188. Delft Blue- NEW
These little gold medal winners have my favorite color blue. A free flowering viola that can take the heat and cold. They look gorgeous in my shady window boxes.
1190. Penny Lane
This hardy little viola has the sweetest mix of colors ranging from the deepest purples to azure blue to orchid frost. The enchanting faces have a touch of whiskers emanating from the center. We filled our window boxes with them and tucked them in the shady spots of the garden.