Cottage garden
The Cottage Garden is a garden of flowers and colour from herbaceous plants, climbing plants and shrubs.
The garden design often includes a central pathway, and simple layers of plants extending outwards and upwards to fill any available space.
Choosing plants for the Cottage Garden is often based around flowering properties, including colour, duration and seasonality, although plant form and texture are also worth considering. Shrubs and climbing plants are essential as they provide a permanent structure in the garden and can extend flowering and interest over the year.
Part of the challenge is to develop a garden that produces lots of flowers, but doesn’t require huge amounts of maintenance to thrive. These plants were selected to be suitable for gardens in eastern and southern Australia.
A savewater® Cottage Garden is designed to reduce water by using plants that have low water needs. This means selecting plants from low rainfall climates or those with special water conservation features. Some of the major plant groups used in a Cottage Garden include edging or border plants, perennials, climbing plants and evergreen shrubs.
This plant list and text was prepared by Burnley Campus, School of Resource Management, University of Melbourne.
Climbing plants
Climbing plants in the Cottage Garden can be grown on a frame or trellis to provide vertical colour or used as a backdrop on a wall or structure. Vigorous climbers will need solid support structures and good maintenance for effective management.
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Banksia Rose Rosa banksiae
Not a true climber, but a scrambling shrub growing to 5 or 6 m in height, The Banksia Rose can be an excellent plant for the Cottage Garden with masses of flowers produced over spring. Reasonably drought tolerant once established there are white and double yellow flower varieties are available. This generally needs pruning only every few years after flowering or when its vigour needs controlling.
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Carolina Jasmine Gelsemium sempervirens
An evergreen climber from southern USA that grows up to 4 or 5 m in height. It has glossy, green leaves and masses of yellow trumpet-like flowers in spring. Easily managed due to its soft habit and form, it will grow successfully on a light trellis or frame.
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Chinese Wisteria Wisteria sinensis
A vigorous, deciduous climber with compound leaves and pendulous, lilac flowers in spring. Drought tolerant once established, the Chinese Wisteria can be slow growing at first, but vigorous in maturity. It needs a strong structure or frame for support and looks best when pruned during the winter.
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Native Sarsparilla Hardenbergia violacea
An evergreen climber found across Australia with clusters of purple or white flowers over spring. Tends to grow best where there is plenty of light. A number of different varieties are available.
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Evergreen shrubs
Flowering evergreen shrubs provide structure and colour in the Cottage Garden. Being a more permanent feature of the garden, their choice needs more careful consideration, especially in smaller areas. Plants should be spaced at 3 to 4 m to enable flowering perennials to fill in the voids.
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Blue Hibiscus Alyogyne huegelii
A relative of the Common Hibiscus this is plant originates from South and Western Australia. It forms an upright shrub to 2 m in height and has masses of mauve-coloured flowers in spring. Pruning after flowering improves the plant habit and encourage repeat flowers during summer, although the small, hairy capsules are also interesting.
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Wart-leaf Ceanothus Ceanothus papillosus var roweanus
This plant forms a dense evergreen shrub up to 2 or 3 m in height. It originates from California and like all members of the genus it produces magnificent blue flowers during spring. Tends to be slow growing and can be very drought tolerant once established. It will not recover from hard pruning into older wood.
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Geraldton Waxflower Chamelaucium uncinatum
A shrub from Western Australian, Geraldton Wax has open habit and grows up to 3 m and spreads to 4 m. It has masses of white-pink-red flowers over winter spring and is best grown in open, sandy soils. Many different varieties are available.
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Balearic Island Sage Phlomis italica
A pink flowering sub-shrub that grows to 1 m in height and produces pink-lilac flowers during spring. Like its close relative the Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis fruticosa) this is easily cultivated in the Cottage Garden. A hard prune every few years will improve plant habit and form.
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Edging or border plants
These are the plants that thrive by the edges of the path or bed. They are generally low-growing, groundhugging and provide colour over a long period. Most need full sun to grow successfully. Plant spacings can be quite high (around 15 cm) to develop a rapid cover and retain the edges and boundaries.
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Cut-leaf Daisy Brachyscome multifida
A flowering perennial from eastern Australia growing up to 50 cm in height. With colourful pink and mauve daisy flowers for much of the year, it is improved by occasional pruning to maintain density and flowers. There are a number of varieties of this plant available.
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Common Everlasting Chrysocephalum apiculatum
A plant originating from grass and woodland communities across Australia, the Common Everlasting is a low, spreading perennial, growing up to 50 cm in height. From spring to autumn it produces masses of small, yellow button heads of flowers. Regular pruning encourages a better form and flowering.
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Catmint Nepeta X faassenii
A low-growing, spreading or upright perennial with lilac-mauve flowers over spring and summer. It has a reliable flowering habit and pungent-smelling foliage. Many different varieties are available. Hard pruning after flowering in spring will produce another mass of flowers in 8 to 10 weeks time.
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Lambs Ear Stachys byzantina
A tough and durable perennial with soft, silver, felt-like foliage. Growing to 50 cm in height when flowering in spring, its felt-like leaves rarely grow to more than 20 cm. Its vigorous growth can be easily managed by pruning and/or dividing the plants over winter.
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Perennials
Flowering perennials are the mainstay of the Cottage Garden. They form the bulk of the flowering display over spring-summer-autumn and with careful choice the flowering season can be extended all year round. Try to use a selection of plants that have similar needs in different spaces in the garden. Most can be planted at spacings of between 30 to 50 cm, depending on soil and climatic conditions.
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Flannel Flower Actinotus helianthi
A relative of Parsley, this flowering perennial comes from NSW and southern Queensland. It forms an upright, feathery plant to 80 cm in height and has white, woolly, daisy-like flowers over spring and summer. Best treated as a short-lived perennial and planted in a sunny, well-drained location.
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Leek Allium ampeloprasum
One of the easiest flowers to grow is the Leek. Normally grown as a vegetable for its swollen stem bases, it can also be grown for its beautiful round heads of mauve flowers. These form over late spring and early summer from clumps of blue-grey ‘onionlike’ leaves.
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Sea Lavender Limonium perezii
A tough perennial from the Canary Islands, the Sea Lavender has large, basal leaves and mauve and white flowers borne on wiry stems. It grows up to 80 cm in height and is useful for its long lasting flowers. Tolerant of only the mildest frosts it is excellent for coastal gardens and is best in dry, well-drained locations.
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Russian Sage Perovskia atriplicifolia
A sub-shrub from central Asia with aromatic, grey-green leaves and spires of woolly, mauve flowers in summer. It can grow to a metre or so in height and is best managed by pruning back to the base after flowering.
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Silver Spur Flower Plectranthus argentatus
A sub-shrub from New South Wales and Queensland, this plant grows to 1 m in height. It has silver foliage and upright light mauve-blue flowers over summer. Whilst very tolerant of dry conditions it is sensitive to frost but recovers readily during spring.
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Germander Sage Salvia chamaedryoides
Many of the gardens Salvias are excellent low water use plants, especially those from drier climates. Germander Sage is native to Mexico and produces sky blue flowers from spring to autumn. It grows up to 60 cm in height and has a spreading habit once established. It will flower 2 or 3 times from spring to late autumn if pruned back.
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