So I'd like to set up a cottage style flower garden. Does someone have an outline for an ever blooming garden? For instance... Say I plant bulbs for next spring. Since they would mostly come up first, would I plant a perennial close to them so it would cover the dying foliage?
I didn't really ever follow a plan in my gardens, they just kind of 'happened'. I have a variety of spring, summer and fall blooming bulbs, perennials and small shrubs and then add annuals to fill in the gaps. Even if there is dying foliage, there is always something else in bloom that catches the eyes attention. It's nice to have other plants cover up the dying foliage, but you don't want them planted too close together either. For example, my spring bulbs bloom, and then the Peony blooms and foliage, then Roses, then Lily's, then veronica, daisies, phlox and Salvia's. Then come the later blooms ... black eyed susans, anemone, Helenium. Then late is the Sedum, Chrysanthemum and Monkshood. The annuals bloom all season up until the frost. Always something in bloom, and if spaced out in the garden always color.
I tend to get caught up in the details. It's like going to the store and your looking for a particular item, but there are 30 different brands of the same item. I guess Im always thinking that there should be a distinct blue print, but I scour the internet trying to find what I think is a perfect storm of circumstances. And I never find it. I know it shouldn't be but with so many options, it's not the easiest thing for me to settle on a particular thing.
Mate...I have what I call a "Cottage Garden". I may not be British and conform to a specific blueprint...but nit works for me. When I began, I identified the basic elements of a cottage garden and went from there. Sort of like the way I cook---I read a recipe and then with that in my head, I just cook that dish. People have told me that it doesn't have to be like a blueprint, it just has to "fit the brief". I also say to myself that at the end of one's efforts, the attempted design has to "feel" right. If it does that, then no one can tell you that it isn't what you want it to be. Bonne chance.
I agree with Netty. Do not plant perennials too close together. It may be harder to divide them in the future if they are extremely close.
