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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Cyclamen hederifolium ssp. crassifolium
Item #: 1991
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Spring, Summer
Height: 4" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Greece
Pot Size: 2.5" pot (7.9 fl. oz/233 ml)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cyclamen hederifolium ssp. crassifolium white flowers
Item #: 17626
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Spring, Summer
Height: 3" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Greece
Pot Size: 2.5" pot (7.9 fl. oz/233 ml)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cynara cardunculus
Item #: 4949
Zones: 7b to 9b
Dormancy: Summer
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun
Origin: Morocco
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cypripedium 'Barry Phillips'
Item #: 12041
Zones: 5a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Cypripedium 'Bernd'
Item #: 4906
Zones: 5b to 7b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Cypripedium 'Bernd Pastel'
Item #: 14969
Zones: 5b to 7b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Asia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $90.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cypripedium 'Frosch Harlequin'
Item #: 17333
Zones: 4a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 14" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Sold out
Cypripedium 'Gabriela'
Item #: 4615
Zones: 5a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $90.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Cypripedium 'Gisela'
Item #: 7515
Zones: 4a to 7b, probably colder
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Cypripedium 'Hank Small'
Item #: 7505
Zones: 4a to 8a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Cypripedium henryi
Item #: 12669
Zones: 6a to 7b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $80.00Regular priceUnit price per$100.00Sale price $80.00Sale -
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Cypripedium 'John Haggar'
Item #: 14885
Zones: 5a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sold out -
Cypripedium 'Lucy Pinkepank'
Item #: 10651
Zones: 4a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Sold out
Cypripedium 'Philipp'
Item #: 8074
Zones: 4a to 8a, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $65.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Sold out
Cypripedium 'Philipp Dark'
Item #: 17079
Zones: 4a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $85.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Cypripedium reginae
Item #: 3897
Zones: 2a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $54.40Regular priceUnit price per$68.00Sale price $54.40Sale -
Sold out
Cypripedium reginae 'Alba'
Item #: 8548
Zones: 2a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $78.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Cypripedium 'Sabine'
Item #: 7478
Zones: 5a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Cypripedium 'Sabine Pastel'
Item #: 9607
Zones: 5a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $72.00Regular priceUnit price per$90.00Sale price $72.00Sale -
Sold out
Cypripedium x ventricosum
Item #: 8075
Zones: 4a to 7b, at least
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China, Siberia Russia
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $78.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Sold out
Cypripedium 'Victoria'
Item #: 8916
Zones: 4a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $90.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Cyrilla racemiflora 'Tom Patrick'
Item #: 15627
Zones: 5a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 60" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $36.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cyrtomium falcatum 'One Off'
Item #: 16863
Zones: 7a to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cyrtomium fortunei 'Fortunately'
Item #: 5927
Zones: 7a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular 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.