Less well known plants for a Cottage garden
As our name implies, at Hardy’s we are a tad obsessed with the cottage garden style of gardening.
Historically, the cottage garden style evolved from people needing to grow plants that were useful as medicine, food and herbs, combined with small areas for livestock such as chickens. These days it has evolved to become more of a decorative style to include fragrance and colour as well as to provide a haven for pollinators. Most cottage gardens have a selection of the following and they all have their place.
Digitalis (Foxglove), Iris germanica (Bearded Iris), Phlox, Campanula ( Bell Flower), Delphinium, Hardy Geranium, Alcea (Hollyhock), Lupinus (Lupin), Hemerocallis (Day Lily), Agapanthus, Dianthus (Pinks), Monarda (Bee Balm/Bergamot), Buddleja (Butterfly Bush), Nepeta (Catmint), Hydrangea, Echinacea (Cone Flower), Lonicera (Honeysuckle) Allium and Aster/Symphyotrichum (Michaelmas Daisies). We have a large range of all these plants for you to pick from. Just have a look at our website and you’ll find plenty to be going on with. https://www.hardysplants.co.uk/all-plants
However, other plants which are less well known yet worthy of a place in a cottage style garden include:
Achillea. Bee and butterfly magnets, these plants come in two forms and are ideally suited to sunny, free-draining sites and reasonable soil. Achillea mostly have compound heads made up of many small open flowers arranged in a flat-topped cluster, which allows insects to wander around collecting pollen and nectar without having to waste energy flying from flower to flower. Achillea come in a huge range of colours and are held on upright stems above soft ferny foliage. When the flowers have gone over, cut the stem down and a second flush will come a month or two later. They are also wonderful as cut flowers. The Achillea below is Achillea 'Gloria Jean'. If you prefer smaller white flowers, the Achillea ptarmica group have proved themselves to be very tough.
Angelica provide drama and height and are butterfly magnets. Ideal for the middle to the back of the bed. Tall hollow stems are adorned with deeply cut leaves that are widely spaced, allowing you see through them. In summer they are topped with heads that contain many flowers in green-white or deep purple. They can be biennials or herbaceous perennials and are classed as herbs. The stems from some were traditionally candied and used in baking and the wild form is know as Wild celery.
Thalictrum are a group of herbaceous perennials that have floaty heads of soft flowers in white, yellow and shades of pink and purple. They can range in height from just a few centimetres tall to nearly 2 metres. Some do well in sun, but a lot of them thrive in part or dappled shade. Fantastic for softening the connections between other plants and adding a bit of transparent height to the middle or back of a bed. After flowering, most of the taller forms can be cut back to a bud approx. half way down the stem and they will produce a second shorter flush of flowers in late Summer/Autumn.
Patrinia, are another group of plants that are wonderful for attracting pollinators They produce compound heads of small yellow or cream, often fragrant flowers followed by attractive seed heads in the autumn and which provide food for birds. Some are suited to sun and others to more shady spots so there is always one to suit any aspect. They produce lots of pollen and nectar so their attraction for wildlife is not to be underestimated.
Bistorta are a group that have enormous value. These are clump forming plants suited to sunny, open sites and some are adapted to moist soils where others like it to be free-draining. They come in a variety of heights and colours from white through to deep wine red as well as pink and orange. The plants form a mat of growth which is good for supressing weeds and the flowers are held on upright stems. The smaller forms can make great edging for beds and borders. These have recently been split from the genus Persicaria, so you may have known some of them by their previous name.
Eurybia with their white or blue-daisy life flowers are a group of plants that have been renamed within the enormous Aster family. Flowering from mid-summer to autumn, these are more suited to partly shady sites. Unlike Michaelmas daisies (i.e. Asters & Symphyotrichum). Bees and other useful pollinators are drawn to the fluffy yellow centres of each flower which then fade to red once pollinated. Flowers are produced in such numbers that this colour change may well inform bees and other insects as to which flowers still have good supplies of nectar and pollen.
Lathyrus will be well known to all of you as they are the genus of your traditional sweet-peas. However, here at the nursery we grow a range of short, spring flowering Lathyrus vernus. These pretty clump forming plants come in a range of colours and provide interest from March onwards through the spring. True perennials, these plants are delicate looking but quite tough. The flowers resemble traditional sweet peas but are smaller and unscented.
Lathyrus vernus 'Subtle Hints'
And last but not least are Actaea. These dramatic, statuesque beauty that that provides drama from early summer to late autumn with a spectacular finale of scent when most plants are long over. Needing a partly sunny spot away from strong winds, Actaea come with large attractive foliage in either green or shades of deepest purple. Growing from 100cm up to 250 cm tall these stylish plants have widely spaced leaves on upright stems followed by tall fluffy inflorescences of highly fragrant pink or white flowers that are great for pollinators and humans alike. Do not grow them in areas that are prone to wind as this could cause the foliage to scorch and dry, it’ll also blow all that gorgeous perfume away.
All our staff are plant obsessed and will be delighted to introduce you to many more of our known and more unusual plants when you come to visit us on the nursery.