Cottage Garden Design in Western PA: Zone 6, Afternoon Sun, Filtered Morning

You're in western PA (Zone 6) with a 21x18 ft space, pea gravel path to sunken patio, privet hedge. Filtered AM sun, baked PM sun. Want cottage-style perennial starter list.

Curated Resource Links (Best of Google)

• Cape Cod Connection: capecodconnection.com/garden/index.htm
• Garden Designer: gardendesigner.com/exp-pla.htm
• BBC Cottage Planting: bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg2/flat/module3/principles_of_cottage_planting
• Better Homes & Gardens: bhg.com (cottage design)
• Aggie Horticulture: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/Cottagedesign.html

Design Principles for Your Site

• PM sun = tough plants: Coneflowers, rudbeckias, sedums, salvias, ornamental grasses.
• AM shade = early bloomers: Bleeding heart, columbine, foamflower, lungwort.
• Cottage = informal, dense, self-sowing: Foxgloves, poppies, nigella, cosmos.
• Structure: Shrubs (hydrangea, spirea), obelisks, path edging.

Spend 30 minutes on those links. You'll have a plant list and layout by dinner.