Greetings from Darien, Connecticut. My name is Andrea Huntington, and I’ve enjoyed working on my cottage gardens at my 1780s home. This little garden includes foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 4–9), salvia (Salvia nemorosa, Zones 5–9), catmint (Nepeta × faassenii, Zones 3–9), peonies (Paeonia sp.), shasta daisies (Leucanthemum × superbum, Zones 5–8), roses, and clematis growing up the obelisk. It brings me such joy!

A bright yellow daylily (Hemerocallis sp. Zones 4–9) glows in a ray of sunshine.

The tall spires of foxgloves blooming in front of the obelisk. Foxgloves are a biennial, with foliage the first year, and these classic cottage garden flowers the second. To ensure that you have them every year in your garden, you can sow new seeds each year, or simply let them self-sow, which they will do in many climates as long as the mulch in your garden isn’t too thick for the small seeds to germinate. View our plant guide to foxgloves here.

The gray foliage and small blue flowers of catmint fill in open spaces in the garden and pull the whole planting together into one harmonious whole. View our plant guide to catmint here.

Pink roses and catmint in full bloom. In the center, the foliage of peonies indicates what was showing off in this space earlier in the season. Behind that, the buds on shasta daisies promise more flowers and color to come later in the summer.

The fuzzy silver leaves of lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina, Zones 4–8) are as soft to the touch as they are appealing to the eye.

The obelisk with clematis growing up it provides height and focus in the garden.

A view down the bed, with the obelisk presiding over a rich tapestry of flowers and foliage. For more cottage garden inspiration, click here.

Looking down the bed from the other side.

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