6/12
Pinks
Pinks, a common name for Dianthus, is the perfect perennial flower to put near the front of the cottage garden, or next to a path where it can spill over and soften the edges.
Many varieties, like ‘Bath’s Pink,‘ are hardy in Zones 3 through 8. They’ll bloom in the spring, then periodically through the summer with deadheading.
Pinks generally don’t mind dry soil, so they’re good next to rocks or drier areas. It’s also an easy plant to share with others or spread around your garden. Usually any piece with a tiny root will take hold and grow in a new location.
7/12
Snapdragons
Few of us can resist pinching off a flower from a snapdragon and making it “talk” to us, squeezing it so it opens and closes. These colorful annuals do well in a cottage garden, blooming best on cooler days in spring and then again in the fall.
While you can grow them from seed started indoors before your last frost, it’s just as easy to buy the plants. Some varieties like the Rocket Series can grow up to three feet tall in full sun with well-drained soil
If you keep deadheading them, snapdragons will keep blooming, slowing just a bit during the hottest days of summer.
8/12
Sweet Peas
If your cottage garden has a fence, plant annual sweet peas, Lathyrus odoratus, each spring to grow up on it. These sweetly scented flowers do best when planted early, well before your last frost. Soak the seeds for a day or so before sowing to loosen up the thick seed coat.
If you don’t have a fence for them to climb, install a temporary support, then remove it once the vines stop flowering.
There’s also a perennial, Lathyrus latifolius, sometimes called everlasting sweet pea. Hardy in Zones 4 through 7, be sure you want it because it’s difficult to get rid of once it self sows. It also has no scent.
Warning: Both annual and perennial sweet peas are poisonous and should not be confused with peas we grow to eat.
