Down the road from me is a house where they grow Knockout roses -- lots of them. For a while they had a bed out in the open with nothing but KO's. I thought it would look better with companions.

In a 3x10 space, you could plant 3 knockouts, evenly spaced. Along the front edge, dianthus. My choice for your area would be 'Fire Witch.' You might find a Dianthus deltoides like 'Zing Rose' or Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Tiny Rubies' more to your liking. You'd need 8 or 10. Along the back edge, a Salvia nemorosa -- your choice, they come in pink, blue or white; and tall or dwarf. You'll need 5 or 8, according to which you choose.

That's about all I could shoehorn into that space. I'd make it a slightly raised bed and put stones along the front edge of the bed so the dianthus could hang over the front.

This is a generic bed. Others will give you much better plans, I'm sure.

Nell

Good choices, Nell. Nearly Wild Roses, are similar to the Knock Out Roses but lay a little more prostrate if you find KO's to be too tall for your liking. They also re-bloom a little faster and are hardier than KO's. More to consider LOL! Angela, zone 5 is a great zone for Cottage Gardening. Many of the quintessential cottage garden plants are hardy in your zone. A couple years ago we had a thread here on the forum where everyone listed 1-2 of the plants that they felt should be in a Cottage garden. I was in zone 5 at the time so I made a note of the ones that I knew would work for me in my area. I'll just jot a few here for you and you can do the research on them to see if they'll work in your garden or not. This list is by no means all inclusive. Really anything goes if you like it. It's your garden after all!

Achillia - Med. height, sometimes floppy, many colors
Monarda - "Cerise Queen"
Lambs Ears
Peonies
Delphinium - "Sunny Skies", "Summer Nights"
Roses, Roses, Roses
Sedum - "Autumn Joy" very nice in the fall and nice green filler in spring and summer.
Iris - all types'
Coreopsis
Rose Campion (Lychnis)
Sunflowers (there are dwarf varieties that grow only 18-24")
Hollyhocks
Peach Leaf Bellflowers
Gladiolas (must be dug up in fall and stored in a dark spot in the basement where they won't freeze)
Foxglove
Lupines
Lobelia
Rudbeckia
Laevetera "Silver Cup"
Perennial Salvia - many types, sizes, colors from pink to deep purples.
Violas - spring flowering
Buddleia
Helemium - Orange
Echinacea
Pansies - spring flowering and late fall if you replant
Dianthus
Polemonium (Jacobs Ladder) - Blue
Pyrethrum (Painted Daisy)
Mallow or Malva
Verbascum (Southern Charm)
Veronica (Sightseeing)
Landy's Mantle (Thriller)
Coumbine - spring flowering
Centaurea (Mt. Bluets (Deer resitant)
Globe Thistle (Blue Glow)
Lavender (Deer resistant)
Climbing Roses - Rosarium Ueteresen' - Coral
Clematis - "Etiole de Violette" - deep burgandy

That should give you plenty to start with! LOL! Have fun.
MeMo

Hi Angela! Planning a garden for the first time can be very confusing. I've been gardening for decades and am extending my garden this year and in the process of wondering what on earth I should plant! There are so many nice plants and it's difficult to know which are the very best ones for you. I think to make it easy you might look at some of the pics that members here have posted and browse thru the gallery: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/cottage/nph-ind.cgi?type=gal

IMO pictures are worth a lot in planning which flowers you like. Do you have a good perennial plant book for your area? Check out your local library for garden books and magazines. You can look at garden catalogues online as well.

One very important thing is to think about how fertile your soil is. You probably will want to add some amendments to it before you plant. Has anything been growing there or what is the situation with the soil?

You might think about joining your local gardening club as there are lots of experienced gardeners there who will be familiar with your zone. They often have plant sales/exchanges which might be a good source for a few inexpensive plants. The cost of plants can really add up and it's all too easy to waste money in this area.

There are so many plants that grow in full sun that you have lots of choices. Do you have any color choices or have you seen plants that you like? Since this is a flat area you could grow a vine on a trellis in the middle for some height.

Here's a link to long blooming perennials: http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/perennials.htm

Don't discount using a few annuals in this bed the first year or two. They can be great fillers until your perennials reach their full size and can add color if the young perennials are not yet blooming.

Good luck with your garden and don't hesitate to ask more questions. It's a good way to learn. Wish there had been gardening forums when I started out. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: planning a perennial border

One more thing: If I lived in zone 5, I would plant a lilac, 2 peonies and as many delphiniums as I could squeeze in (fav things that do not thrive here). That takes care of spring; annuals in summer, maybe in pots.

Nell

Ok, I looked up some plants and I have a list of things I like. However, I have no idea on what types would look good with one another and I also have no idea how many of each plant I would need...or how far to space them. I apprecaite everyone's help in this...

Lamb's Ears
Jacob's Ladder Heaven Scent
Peony Cora Louise
Dianthus Amazon Neon Rose Magic
Delphinium Summer Nights
Echinacea Prairie Splendor
Sedum Angelina
Salvia Blue Queen
Iris Tenessee White
Lobelia Fountain Crimson
Coreopsis Early Sunrise
Bellflower Pearl Light Blue
Sunflower Sunny Smile

Angela, That's the great thing about a cottage garden, no matter what you put in or what it's next to it all really does work together, 9 times out of ten. If they are perennials, and you find you don't like two colors together you can always move things around. Some gardeners like to think about the color, shape and texture of the foliage too so they don't end up with too many strappy plants together etc. I'll just mark them Short, Med, Tall, Bush-like etc. And a suggetion if I may, a round bed is easier to work with than a square bed IMHO because you can put tall or bushy things in the center and medium/short things all around in front of those and it will be viewed equally from all sides if it's out in an open space. Round beds also look softer and more pleasing to the eye in most settings than a square one does. Just throwing it out for your consideration.
Ht.x Wth.)
Lamb's Ears Short 6-10"x10"
Jacob's Ladder Heaven Scent Med 18-36"x12-16"
Peony Cora Louise Tall 30"x36"
Dianthus Amazon Neon Rose Magic Med 18"x24"
Delphinium Summer Nights Short 12"x8"
Echinacea Prairie Splendor Bush like 2'x 2.5'
Sedum Angelina Ground cover 4"x 2'
Salvia Blue Queen Bush like 12"x 16"
Iris Tenessee White Short 10-12"x 10"
Lobelia Fountain Crimson (cool season) Short 5-9"x4-6"
Coreopsis Early Sunrise Bush like 12"x 18"
Bellflower Pearl Light Blue Short 6"x8"
Sunflower Sunny Smile Short 12-15" tall

Angela, one thing new gardeners (and also sometimes older ones) do is to place plants too close together. Whichever plants you chose check out how large they will ultimately grow and plant accordingly. Memo has given you the size of those plants so you can see you will not need too many to fill the bed. When the plants are young you can use annuals to fill in the spaces if you wish a fuller look.

Some plants such as peonies will not bloom for a few years so you may take that into consideration in your plan.

It is sometimes recommended to use several plants of each type and plant together. Several of my gardening books show plans of beds of various sizes and the plants which can be placed there. I've never followed one of these but it might be very easy to do if that is what you wish. I highly recommend looking at gardening books when starting out.

I also recommend mulching this new bed as it will cut down on weeding and improve the soil if you use a good mulch.

Can some of you zone 5 East Coaster's give Angela more info on soil amendments and mulches? I'm thinking she probably has more acidic soil than the Midwest does so I haven't a clue really, what would be best to recommend. Thank you kindly!

MeMo

memo...could you email me at amm240@pitt.edu so i can send you some photos?

Angela, you have mail!

MeMo