20 Beautiful Heirloom Flowers to Create a Cottage Garden from Seed
Flower farmingCottage gardens are known for their charming, overflowing blooms and old-fashioned charm. If you're dreaming of a romantic, pollinator-friendly garden, start with these 20 heirloom cottage garden flower seeds you can grow at home. Whether you're designing a classic English-style border or filling raised beds with color, these seed-grown flowers are perfect for any cottage garden.
What is a Cottage Garden?
A cottage garden can be a delightful mix of edible flowers, herbs, and even vegetables.
The look of a cottage garden is informal. It’s a mix of flowers and colors. There are no orderly rows of repetition here. Instead, it’s like a discovery. The more you lean in, the more little details you notice.
How to Plan a Cottage Garden
Cottage gardens offer a charming, low-maintenance approach to gardening, but their carefree appearance actually benefits from thoughtful planning. Before scattering seeds, take time to consider your local growing conditions and plant choices to ensure your cottage garden thrives with minimal effort.
- Choose the perfect location: To start growing a cottage garden, choose a location where you want to encourage a natural habitat.
Create a purposeful space: You could create a cottage garden on the path to your garden shed or around a hammock. Make the focus of your garden a place to enjoy spending time.
Select self-sustaining plants: Using seeds that can self-sow is one low-maintenance approach. Also, mixing annuals with perennials will help keep year-round interest.
Match plants to your conditions: Choose flowers and herbs that work for your growing zone and the microclimate of the location. An example of a microclimate is a shady area. This area would need to have plants that grow in the shade.
Incorporate natural pathways: Pathways in a cottage garden use natural or simple elements. Think wood chips, clover paths, pebbles, shells, etc.
Create visual dimension: Use plants to create a range of heights from ground covers to towering sunflowers.
Plan for water efficiency: Consider watering needs. Work with your natural conditions and sow seeds accordingly.
Ensure continuous blooms: Try a mix of bloom times so you always have something flowering.
Plant in attractive groupings: Plant flowers in clumps or groups and then alternate with other flowers.
Add vertical interest: Add vining plants that can grow up a trellis and twist up tree trunks.
Heirloom Cottage Garden Flowers
Heirloom flowers are the perfect choice for planting in a cottage garden. You can save the seeds, and most flowers will self-sow.
Here are our top 20 cottage garden flowers to cover all the different elements of a cottage garden.
Ground Cover and Short Flowers:
A cottage garden will have varying heights of flowers and plants. You can even have groundcovers that can be walked on. These are some short flowers that can also be ground covers.
Cottage Flowers for Part Shade:
For those areas that get dappled shade from trees or are shady for half of the day, try these cottage garden flowers:
Perennial Flowers for Cottage Gardens:
Every cottage garden needs perennial flowers. These are going to come back year after year. These heirloom flowers are excellent choices.
Self-sowing Flowers:
The easy part of planning a cottage garden is having flowers that self-seed. Heirloom flowers are perfect for this. Here are some of our favorites for self-sowing.
Tall Cottage Garden Flowers:
Tall spikey-looking flowers add some structure and a sense of strength. These heirloom varieties will be eye-catching.
Frost Hardy Flowers:
Having some flowers that can withstand cold temperatures will give you blooms in early spring and late fall.
Vining Cottage Garden Flowers:
Flowers that grow over an arch or up a garden trellis add a feeling of being immersed in nature. Let them wrap around a tree or overtake a fence.
Flowers for Full Sun:
You can grow a large variety of flowers in a cottage garden with full sun. Flowers in a sunny garden will attract beautiful butterflies when they’re filled with these heirloom varieties.
Additional Cottage Garden Tips:
- Many cottage garden flowers can be sown in the fall for spring blooms. Check individual seed packages for planting directions.
- Herbs are easy to add to a cottage garden. They are fragrant and have beautiful flowers. Bee balm and lavender are two herbs that mix beautifully.
- Try our wildflower mixes specifically created for your growing area.
- Our Cottage Garden Collection gives gardeners a nice mix of colors, shapes, and heights.
We won’t say a cottage garden is no work, but it is FUN work. You'll enjoy watching your flowers bloom and attract local pollinators and natural wildlife. The beauty of cottage gardens is the simplicity. You plan the basics, sow the seeds, and let nature do the work.
Before you know it, you'll have a charming, ever-changing garden that's uniquely yours without the fuss of perfect maintenance.
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