Most of the bellflowers are perennial but not Canterbury Bells. This quintessential English cottage flower has long racemes of boxy bell-shaped flowers in vivid blue and soft pink, lilac, and white.

Cottage pinks (Dianthus x allwoodii) have the spicy scented flowers and fringed petals so typical of Dianthus species. Pinks are short flowers, so keep them toward the front of your garden border. You will enjoy their scent more if you plant them where you will brush up against them.

Delphiniums can be temperamental plants, but they are worth the extra effort. Although they can withstand quite cold winters, high heat and a lack of moisture during.

Traditional hardy geraniums bloomed once, although the flowers could last several weeks.

There are few cottage flowers that are as delightfully charming as hollyhocks (Alcea rosea). Many gardeners grow them because of their childhood memories of giant plants that could easily reach heights of 8 ft.

Their bobbing airy nature is perfectly at home in cottage gardens. Japanese anemones need a moist, but well-draining soil. The plants can reach 4 ft.

Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is a fixture in most cottage gardens.

English gardens are renowned for their lavenders, such as the much sought after "Munstead", with its purple-blue flowers and the rich purple flowers of "Hidcote".

Although peonies have a brief flowering period, they are so stunning and fragrant when they are in bloom, nothing else in the garden matters. The foliage can look good the rest of the season, particularly when the leaves turn red in the fall but watch out for botrytis, or gray mold, in humid conditions.

Garden phlox (Phlox paniculate) are stars in the heat of late summer. Their flower clusters can last well over a month.

You can’t get much more British than the primrose, an early season bloomer with some of the brightest flowers of spring.

It’s hard to imagine an English garden without roses. Climbing roses that have an arbor or arch to climb over will definitely lend a cottage their garden charm.

There are several wonderful bellflowers that will light up your garden. The peachleaf bellflower (Campanula persicifolia) stays in bloom most of the summer. Its long stems and abundance of buds make it a great cut flower, as well as a welcome garden plant.

These bright blue flowers are one of the hallmarks of spring and one of the best biennial self-sowers. Forget-me-nots prefer full sun and moist soil. They make a great cover for the fading foliage of spring bulbs.

There is a perennial foxglove, but most foxgloves are biennial. The plants are fairly large, even in their first year, with long, rough, but not unattractive, leaves.

You will enjoy their scent more if you plant them where you will brush up against them. New varieties are introduced every year, often in non-traditional colors other than pink.