There are no exact rules governing the creation of a cottage
garden, but there are some guidelines today's gardeners can
follow, wherever he or she lives and whatever climate.

Cottage gardens are thickly planted. They are as
luxuriously crowded as the victorian parlors whose windows
look out on them. Their clusters of blossoms, seas of green
foliage and islands of plantings reflect the Victorian
aesthetic of abundance rather than the ideal of moderation.
and order. No space is wasted. Roses may be underplanted
with Artemesia or Lady's Mantle to provide additional color
and texture to keep the weeds from growing.

While there are no definite "musts" and
"must nots" in an old-fashioned garden,
a few elements are generally essential: some
heirloom roses, a flowering fruit tree and a
rustic touch or two, such as a birdbath, a
small fountain, a sundial, a weathered bench
and some statuary.

Climbing vines, some flowering and some green can ramble over
shrubs, climb trees, drape trellisses, flourish around fences
and create little oasis of privacy in secluded corners of a
cottage garden. A perrenial like English Ivy can provide a
screen from sun in summer and wind in winter.

More homeowners, especially those who own old houses are
rediscovering the heirloom plants that were almost forgotten
when bigger and better varieties of the same plant became
available ...like double hollyhocks, for instance. The
heirloom plants have names which carry a sweet echo of the
past: begonias, heliotropes, sweet rockets, johnny jump-ups,
bleeding hearts, bee balms, Canterbury bells, pinks,
foxgloves, poppy anemones, day lillies, morning glories
primroses, dusty millers, sweet peas, sweet alyssums, sweet
Williams, and roses, roses, roses.

I have several old heirloom plants in my border gardens...
lady's mantle, foxgloves, bellflowers, coral bells, hardy
geranium, iris, catmint and oriental poppies. I also
have planted several old fashioned holly hocks, cone flowers,
shasta daisy, astilbe, bee balm, and stonecrop autumn
joy.

Remember when planning your cottage garden to carefully
choose at least five to six of each variety of plants to
create a swath of color, remembering to place shorter plants
in the front and taller plants in the back. Fewer varieties
and more of the species is the key to an authentic Victorian
cottage garden.