6 Favourites That Come Back Every Year – Including Fragrant Peonies

Is there anything dreamier than a lush cottage garden filled with colourful, sweet-smelling blooms? I’m an amateur gardener, and this is my ultimate fantasy – along with a wicker basket and shears for snipping and collecting flowers.

There are many ways to define a cottage garden, but they typically tend to have a full, naturalistic design (no neat, orderly rows) with layers of annuals and perennials that bloom at different times. Many incorporate herbs and edible flowers like pansies.

“I always think of a cottage garden as whimsical and fairy tale-like, and just spilling over with blooms,” says Elizabeth Brown, owner of Foxglove Farmhouse, and author of The Beginner’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Nourish, and Create Bliss Year-Round.

And you don’t necessarily need a ton of space to grow one. “Even if you have a postage stamp-size garden and you want to maximise that little bit of land, you can pack it to the brim with things that are all sorts of different textures and colours.”

Every year, I get a little closer to my cottage garden goal, and one easy way to get there is to choose flowers that will come back without replanting. These are Brown’s favourite perennials and self-sowing biennials if you want to fill your garden with colour, scent, and whimsy for months on end.

Hollyhocks

Christine Chitnis

“I naturally think of tall flowers when I think of cottage gardens,” says Brown. “Hollyhocks are biennial, so they come back every other year. The first year you have one, it’ll only put on leaves and then in the second year, you get those incredible tall blossoms.” Seeds from the flowers will self-sow, and the cycle starts over again. Not only do these plants add height to your garden, they come in just about every colour you could want, and some varieties even have ruffled double petals. Brown recommends planting a hollyhock one year and then another one the next year, so you’ll have constant blooms.

Delphiniums

Clive Nichols//Getty Images

Another plant with drama and height, delphiniums have long stalks covered with small flowers, making them a great choice for cutting gardens. “Some of my favourite blue and purple colours in the garden come from delphiniums,” says Brown. “There are so many different varieties; you could go wild with them in your garden.”

Foxgloves

PicturePartners//Getty Images

While most foxgloves are biennial, Brown says there are some varieties, like one called Dalmation, that will flower every year. (Even if you have a biennial variety, they also readily self-seed.) Like hollyhocks, foxgloves are tall and come in an eye-popping range of colours. A word of caution, though, foxglove is toxic if consumed.

Peonies

zlyka2008//Getty Images

With their piles of petals and heady aroma, peonies are a cottage garden staple. They are easier to grow than you might think and will return each year, usually with more blooms than the last. “Even though peonies only bloom for a short period of time, I think the leaves are really beautiful. Even after the flowers pass, you can deadhead them and they’re still nice shrubbery to have,” Brown says.

Astrantia

Jacky Parker Photography//Getty Images

If you’ve never heard of this plant (also named masterworts), you’re not alone. “This is the perennial that when folks come to my garden, even experienced gardeners, they look at it and go, ‘What is that? I’ve never seen it’,” says Brown. These unusual star-shaped flowers bloom throughout the summer and have a light, papery texture, similar to straw flowers. “They have sort of a short bloom window, but they dry wonderfully,” she says.

Roses

photon64//Getty Images

Roses are a classic addition to any cottage garden, especially varieties with lots of colour and fragrance such as Gertrude Jekyll, Arthur Bell and Madame Alfred Carrière. While roses require pruning, fertilisation, and a little more care than other types of flowers, they will reliably return each year. And don’t forget about climbing varieties, which look charming covering a trellis, fence or an arbour.

Gardening must-havesFilberts of Dorset Gardeners Hand SalveHaywards Garden Bee and Butterfly Water Stations, Garden Décor, set of three colourful bee water cups .

Now 17% Off

Home Sussex Handmade Peg ApronPainted Garden Label/MarkerThe Fae Potter Wild Bird Feeder ceramic hangingWhinnyPoo WhinnyPoo Box of 3 Plant Feed

Lisa Cericola (she/her) is a writer and editor who specializes in travel, food, and culture. A South Florida native, Lisa lived in New York City for 15 years and now resides in beautiful Birmingham, Alabama. She has been an editor at Southern Living and Food Network Magazine and writes for numerous publications including Garden & Gun and Late Checkout. When she’s not working on a story, or planning her next trip, Lisa is likely making and selling small-batch olive oil granola at her local farmers market.