What are your top 5 perennials for the Cottage Garden?

Mine are:
Daffodils
Irises
Tall Phlox
Lilies
Peonies

Irises
Lilies
Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)
Phlox
Ornamental Grasses

Iris (bearded, siberian)
Lilies
Daylilies
Monarda
Salvia

Hi Polly and Sharron :)

I have to say my plumonaria and snow in summer are my favorites and I hate it because they don't bloom all summer I think Polly is trying to get me to love irises lol

Can't forget my grasses I love those, my datura inoxia and hibiscus are right up there too!

It's hard for me to really pick certain ones I love all of my plants

I just started collecting Monarda and if I can get along with the Jacob Cline and figure a way to get them to stand up those beauties are going to be one of my favs. I know! I'm going to trim them a bit this year to see if I can get them a little shorter but first I have to move them they are coming up now :)

I love some of the perennial salvias too and reseeders, heck I love them all

Oh, I love my penstemons too see I can't pick just a few! I get ready to get off of here and think of another one

Lea, I know what you mean, I have so many favorites its hard to narrow it down. My favorite depend on what's blooming at the moment! Hmmmm....perhaps we should list our spring favorites, early summer, mid summer, and so on!

I just don't understand why sping has to be so short lol There are too many things that bloom in the spring that I hate to seee the blooms fade. I have my hellebore blooming right now Polly sent me some beautiful little Metallic Blue Ladies I'm seeing blooming for the first time and soon the columbines.

Then comes the Centaurea Knappweed the butterflies love that one in the later spring and when does the Golden Queen bloom isn't that around that time I can't remember...then I have some sea holly that the butterflies and bees like then...

Yes I may have to say whatever is in bloom at the time I do like my foliage too though and still like the foliage of the plumonaria and silver dragon grass and all of my grasses ;P Can't think of what I have out there right now but a lot of foliage plants too

The sages in the summer is a favorite but some I won't grow because even in bloom I don't care for the foliage.

The rudbeckias are right up there in the heat of the summer and fall

Not sure what qualifies for a cottage garden, but right now my Camellias are putting on a show, along with the daffodils and hyacinths for spring. A little later the Irises, and then for summer the lilies. Salvia was a big favorite for the first time last year, and growing many more varieties this year!

Had a great, colorful random bed of Zinnias and Gaillardia last year, that were all volunteers. Probably couldn't do that again if I tried, but I loved it!

>>colorful random bed of Zinnias and Gaillardia last year, that were all volunteers. Probably couldn't do that again if I tried

Kelly -- I had a bed like that one year... though they weren't volunteers, just direct sown / tossed seeds, and i just got lucky with a gorgeous, colorful flowerbed that year.

as for Top 5... I couldn't narrow it to 5. I really do enjoy them all - and ya figure, i've only been at this about 4 yrs, so i'm still learning and getting new plants.

General common and many plants in the garden-
Daylilies
Bulb Lilies
Daffoldils
Iris


For the butterflies-
Milkweeds and Butterfly Weeds
Purple Coneflowers
Joe Pye Weed

I don't have any peonies, don't care for them.

I also love

Baptisia
Shasta Daisy
Columbine
Penstemon
Amen to Zinnias
Belles Perenes

I'm getting really into Columbines and Penstemons too! I've got about a dozen Columbine varieties wintersown, and about as many different Penstemons too. Also did several of each last year, and they're looking like they'll bloom this year!

I love the Penstemons, I'm just wondering how they are going to transplant I have several that are in my middle bed that I'm taking out and moving to the side yard I had some out front and the lyme grass took them over. I like the veronicas too most of mine are purple but I have this one pink one and can't tell which one was pink right now they aren't up enough I had a white one by the pink too and they have kind of grown into each other it looks like.

Well, I don't recall reading anything about them resenting being disturbed. I'm thinking they can be divided in spring too.

Picking 5 is very hard
Columbine
Lupine
Iris
Hardy Geranium
Dianthus

Can't grow decent lupine here in Indiana but I still try.

Iris
Daylily
Peony
Phlox
Sedum

I'm not sure how I made any list without monarda or hosta on it. I think if I could only have five plants that I would probably drive myself completely batty choosing which ones to pick. And how can I leave out the brunnera which are such a wonderful blue right now. Lupine, clematis, dianthus. Oh No, my head is starting to hurt. Wallflowers, salvia, and coneflowers. Nope, can't do it. Heuchera, lilies, primrose. That's it. I give up. I'm incapable of picking only five perennials.

mao

That's fine, no strict limitations to 5, LOL Good to see all the top performers.

We have a garden with lots of shade & happy to say that columbine seeds itself. Because of the shade, beds are scattered about. Small flowered white trillium & gingerw are up, lilyof the valeey starting to send up leaves in one shade garden. Dogtooth violets in bloom in another. Peonies are putting up leaves in other places. the ones in front of the house are from my childhood home in WI.

gardengus the only lupines I've been able to grow here in In. are the Texas Bonnet they bloom for me but are gone the next year I've tried several kind all over the yard with no success and the TB don't reseed for me either

Neal was checking out my penstemons out yesterday and looks like I lost a few for this year I had the Barbatus (sp) and don't see a sign of them anywhere and had several of them they aren't short lived are they? Last year was the second year they were in the ground so they aren't that old. I had a few others back there too and only see one but can't remember which ones they were something like Tex Mex? They were a dark pinkish red. Had some of those out front and they aren't up either Seems like every time I go to dig a plant out of my middle bed that I want to save it didn't come back this year

I'll second the votes for baptisia, columbines, sedums, and want to add poppies and bleeding hearts.

Lea, I'm not sure about those Penstemons. I believe some aren't as hardy as others, and some have issues with winter moisture. I'm thinking P.barbatus are the large flowered, showy ones- is that right? I think those are a bit more finicky than some of the others. When did you move them? Some things don't like to be moved in the fall, just before cold weather sets in, that's why I'm wondering. I thought I had lost my P.mexicalli 'Red Rocks', but now the crowns are producing sprouts. Some of the others I wintersowed last year are getting ready to bud.

Every year I drool over all the gorgeous Lupine pics. I direct sowed a lot last year, knowing I'm a bit far south for them. They all germinated well, and gradually most simply disappeared over the summer, even though we did have a mild summer. Well, I have 2 that have returned and are growing- keeping my fingers crossed perhaps I'll actually get to see one of those blooms in person!