This winter and spring I’ve been particularly inspired by my gardens, especially with certain flowers blooming that give my garden some serious cottagecore vibes.
My understanding of cottagecore is that it’s all about embracing the whimsical slow life of the countryside (probably the English countryside with their cosy cottages and blooming gardens). Cottagecore is a set of lifestyle choices that focus on embracing the best aspects of simple rural/country living. It’s also an aesthetic that’s growing in popularity.
Popularised by social media and very popular among young people, cottagecore is a way of living and can also be reflected in fashion. If you search for “cottagecore fashion” you’ll soon get the idea. Cottagecore is what you wear (think flowy dresses and DIY sewing), how you live your life (simply and at a ‘slow’ and gentle pace in tune with your own natural rhythms and nature’s), and a cosy home space (think indoor plants, having a flower garden, lots of handmade and baked goods).
In my garden, everything that I’ve planted was planted with the intention of creating a cottagey vibe and with Robert Reeves’ flower therapy in mind – I consulted his book ‘Flower Therapy’ (a lot) as well as various online sources for the meanings, energy and vibrations behind different flowers when planning out my gardens.
So here are the 10 flowers that give my little garden cottagecore vibes. It was difficult to only include ten! But there’ll be more to come as the seasons change. Keep in mind that I’m writing from the perspective of living in South Australia where it’s spring at the time of writing this, so other people may have other opinions.
1) Daisies & Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus)
Daisies, as well as being pretty and whimsical with their yellow centres and long white petals, remind me to maintain a simple life and not to overcomplicate things with stuff, worry, or have too many activities scheduled into my day.
I’ve been looking into planting pink, yellow or even purple daisies – especially pink – to complement the white daisies that I have growing in abundance.
Closely related to the daisy is the seaside daisy.
The seaside daisy plant spreads out with its mass of pretty little flowers in pink and white, and attracts bees and butterflies to the garden, further adding to the cottagey aesthetic (especially when I see other houses in the neighbourhood with picket fences lined with standard roses with seaside daisies blooming underneath).
2) Lavender (Lavandula)
Soothing to smell and soothing to look at, these bushes and flowers with their varying degrees of purple also attract pollinators.
As well as adding to the cottagecore aesthetic, they can be used in herbalism practices or be included in a variety of cottagey hobbies.
They’re a very calming flower.
3) Roses (Rosa)
When the roses start flowering over summer, out of my front window I often see people stopping to smell the roses (and sometimes pinching them which I’m not too happy about). Coming in a variety of forms, colours, fragrances and types, roses are one of my favourite flowers.
No cottage garden would be complete without some form of rose, whether that’s a standard rose or rose bush (I’m particularly fond of fairy roses).
When our cat Pippi died in November 2020, I went out and selected a rose to plant as a memorial. I decided on a Peace rose, which has already established itself nicely and bloomed (pictured above).
4) Jonquils (Narcissus jonquilla)
Growing in front of my roses are jonquils, which have just emerged with the end of winter and beginning of spring. These happy little flowers keep the energy uplifted in my front garden and are a beautiful spring addition.
If I had the space in my front garden, other bulbs that would definitely give my home cottagecore vibes would be daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. I would also plant ranunculi (I love the ranunculus name and vibe) and grape hyacinths, which remind me of deep purple fairy Christmas trees. Very whimsical.
I’ve decided that when I have my own little cottage on some land, bulbs of all sorts (and flowers of all sorts) are going to be grown en masse.
5) Stock (Matthiola incana)
This is the kind of stock I enjoy investing in. It brings such a lovely aesthetic and fragrance to the garden (stop and smell the stock!) with brightly coloured blooms of clustered flowers.
6) Sunflowers (“Dwarf Sunsation”)
Any kind of smaller variety of sunflower is a vibrant addition to a summer cottage garden. The smaller varieties (like Dwarf Sunsation that I had planted last summer and plan to plant again this summer wherever there’s space!) don’t overwhelm or overpower the other flowers blooming in the garden, but complement them and work in visual harmony with them.
Any kind of sunflower though with their bright yellow petals and happy faces will bring the joy and good vibes to your garden.
7) Freesias (Freesia refracta)
If I walk past a plot of freesias, I feel compelled to stop and smell them. As much as I can, I stop and smell the freesias.
When the pink blossoms of the prunus trees start to fall and that particular sweet spring smell is gone, out come the freesias in my front garden with a delightful fragrance of their own. Probably my favourite fragrance (second favourite would be stock or jasmine, although I like a lot of different floral fragrances for a lot of different reasons and at different times so it’s hard to decide. I guess I don’t need to decide and I’m allowed to like them all!).
In an assortment of colours, these bulbs are a favourite of mine for the cottage vibes and sweet fragrance that wafts in through the open windows.
8) Forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica)
These pretty and delicate blue flowers were very slow to grow in my front garden.
The first time I sowed the seeds out the back they didn’t emerge. I tried sowing them again out in the front garden and they didn’t emerge that year. At this point I didn’t plant any more. Fast forward to a year later, out they came!
Forget-me-nots will spread like anything, so keep this in mind if you want to add these flowers to your cottage-inspired garden.
9) Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Speaking of flowers that spread like anything, the next flower that gives my garden cottagecore vibes is the alyssum.
Alyssum in my garden comes in deep pink (raspberry), purple, and white. The white alyssum we have growing was originally a cutting from my grandma’s garden that seemed dead, and the purple and raspberry ones were from a local nursery plant hospital. Like the daisies and calendulas, the alyssum is popping up in random places in the garden and spreading.
Much like seaside daisies, these clusters of flowers look very cosy and cottage-gardeny underneath standard roses.
10) Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
And lastly a staple in any herbalist’s garden and a flowering bush that creates a cottagey feel all year round whether it’s in flower or not is the rosemary.
Like the lavender, this bush not only produces small blooms of flowers, but has a beautiful fragrance all year round.
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Final Thoughts and Bonus Native Flowers
My favourite Aussie flowers that I have growing that aren’t necessarily associated with the cottagecore aesthetic but I find create really cosy and cottagey are my baby bougainvillea and my grevillea that attracts the birds, bees and butterflies.
Do you have favourite flowers that you associate with cottagecore vibes? How does your garden grow?
Let me know in the comments below or get in touch!
Stop to smell the roses (or other favourite flowers)!
Happy gardening and cottaging,
P.S. if anyone notices any scientific names should be changed or updated please let me know!
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