Cottage Garden Style from Seeds

Allen, I’m starting a garden, and I want to get the look of a country cottage. I’m on a budget, so I’m willing to start from seeds. Any suggestions on plants to try?
Washington D.C. (zone 7A)

Well, I have to tell you, when I first started my garden, I had spent so much money renovating my old house, I didn’t have a lot to spend on the garden, so I started with seeds.

Many homeowners think that the only way to have lots of big, beautiful blooms is to load up their cars with flats of plants from the garden center.

While this is fantastic for getting the wow factor, if you’re on a budget, it’s probably not very practical. So an alternative, as you mentioned, is picking up a few packets of flower seeds.

One of the easiest ways to start seedlings is in containers. After the last frost date in your area, just scatter a handful of seed in a pot filled with soil. Keep it moist, and within a few days, the flower seed will begin to sprout and fill the container.

When it’s time to thin some of the seedlings, you can transplant the extras into little, four-inch containers and grow them all for planting in other areas of your garden.

Now, some of the garden seeds that I like to start for transplanting into the garden include hollyhock, marigolds, zinnias, hyacinth bean vine, nicotiana, and cleome.