Cottage garden plants like Hibiscus, Alcea and Geranium are charming and informal.The term "cottage garden" evokes certain images...a small, rustic house with a white picket fence and an arbor, surrounded by a small but densely-packed informal garden containing ornamental plants mixed with culinary and medicinal plants in a charming and graceful way.
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Spigelia marilandica 'Little Redhead'
Item #: 6866
Zones: 5b to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 21" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 06/21/2024Sold out -
Spigelia marilandica 'Ragin Cajun'
Item #: 8718
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
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Spiranthes bightensis 'Chadds Ford'
Item #: 9235
Zones: 5a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 08/02/2024Sold out -
Spiranthes vernalis 'Wake Up'
Item #: 16643
Zones: 5a to 9b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Summer, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sprekelia formosissima
Item #: 5279
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Stokesia laevis 'Honeysong Purple'
Item #: 4336
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Stokesia laevis 'Mary Gregory'
Item #: 1404
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Stokesia laevis 'Peachie's Pick'
Item #: 4726
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'
Item #: 953
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Fanny'
Item #: 341
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
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Syneilesis aconitifolia
Item #: 3400
Zones: 3a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China, Japan, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $26.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 06/28/2024Sold out -
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Syneilesis palmata
Item #: 5617
Zones: 4a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan, Korea
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 04/18/2025Sold out -
Teucrium marum
Item #: 8687
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Italy, Sardinia, Spain, Yugoslavia (former)
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Thalictrum aquilegiifolium 'Nimbus Pink' PPAF
Item #: 14330
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 28" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia, Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Thalictrum aquilegiifolium 'Nimbus White' PPAF
Item #: 14264
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 28" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Asia, Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Thalictrum 'Black Stockings'
Item #: 6482
Zones: 5a to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 72" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Thelypteris ovata var. lindheimeri 'Austin City Limits'
Item #: 4847
Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Thelypteris ovata var. lindheimeri 'Tooth Fairy'
Item #: 17599
Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Tiarella 'Cutting Edge' PP 29,745
Item #: 16628
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 8" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price per -
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Tiarella 'Pink Skyrocket'
Item #: 5106
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 8" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $21.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 05/31/2024Sold out -
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Tibouchina urvilleana 'Variegata'
Item #: 6326
Zones: 8a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: South America
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 06/07/2024Sold out -
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Titanotrichum oldhamii
Item #: 2433
Zones: 6b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $25.00Regular priceUnit price perNext crop available: 06/14/2024Sold out -
Tradescantia 'Pale Puma'
Item #: 7303
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $20.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Tradescantia sillamontana 'Gold Stripes'
Item #: 17231
Zones: 8a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Mexico
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Cottage Garden Plants
Cottage gardens and the plants in them, are modest rather than grandiose and informal rather than architectural. Here at Plant Delights Nursery we have an enormous on-line plant catalog and we have searched through it to create this mini-catalog of cottage garden plants that look great in the informal garden.
What is a Cottage Garden?
Traditional cottage gardens are staples of the English countryside and generally contain hardy European plants, but there is no set list of cottage garden plants because cottage gardens may contain any plant that is tough, functional, and easy to obtain. Thus, depending on where you live, you are free to create variations on the cottage garden theme with other plant types like Mediterranean plants, desert southwest plants, US prairie plants, African plants, Chinese plants, Japanese plants, and others.
Traditional English Cottage Garden Plants
The traditional English cottage garden typically contains a variety of plants.
Flowering plants such as aconitum, achillea, alcea, aquilegia, campanula, coreopsis, dianthus, digitalis, geranium, lilium, paeonia, primula, viola, chrysanthemum, and roses
Woodland plants such as alchemilla, anemone, antirrhinum, convallaria, dicentra, hepatica, polygonatum, pulmonaria
Conifers like juniperus or chamaecyparis
Ornamental fruit trees like Punica granatum 'Eight Ball'
Herbs such as agastache, artemisia, calamintha, nepeta, origanum, lavandula, rosmarinus, salvia, saponaria.
Vines such as clematis
Woody perennials such as hydrangea
Native Cottage Garden Plants
There are many non-European plants that fit into this rustic theme. American gardeners can select native cottage garden plants like aster, heuchera, hibiscus, echinacea, eupatorium, rudbeckia, monarda, gaillardia, phlox, oenothera, solidago, veronica, and vernonia.
A chinese or japanese native plant fan could use hosta, aspidistra, iris, paeonia, chrysanthemum, lilium, hibiscus, polygonatum, cryptomeria and others.
And someone living in the Southwest US could really stretch the theme and create an informal garden of desert cottage garden plants like agave, amorpha, anisacanthus, salvia, eupatorium, delosperma, sedum, cheilanthes, yucca, echeveria, erythrina and opuntia.