June 2026 (English Cottage Gardening)
From Our Garden to Yours
Welcome to the Deep Creek Garden Center blog! Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this is the place to find tips, seasonal ideas, plant highlights, and inspiration for your garden, patio, or home. We share what’s blooming at the store, seasonal advice for growing your favorite plants, and stories from our family-run garden center right here in Gresham, Oregon.
Stay tuned for helpful guides, new plant arrivals, DIY projects, and a peek behind the scenes at the store. We hope each post sparks an idea, brightens your day, and helps your garden grow!
Caring For & Enjoying Spring Bulbs in March
By March, gardens across the Pacific Northwest begin waking up with some of the first real signs of spring. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, hyacinths, and other flowering bulbs bring bright color and excitement after a long winter, reminding us that warmer days are finally on the way. While bulbs are wonderfully low-maintenance, a little care during early spring can help keep them healthy, vibrant, and returning beautifully year after year. At
Deep Creek Garden Center, we love seeing gardens come back to life this time of year—and spring bulbs are often the stars of the show.
1. Start With a “Relaxed” Planting Style
Cottage gardens aren’t about straight lines or rigid spacing—they’re about layering plants in a way that feels natural and full. Instead of planting in perfect rows, try grouping plants in clusters and repeating colors throughout the space. Let taller plants mingle with mid-height flowers and low growers to create a soft, flowing look. Over time, the garden fills in and begins to feel like it has always been there.
2. Choose Flowers That Bloom All Season
A true cottage garden is always changing, with something new in bloom throughout the year. Mixing early, mid, and late-season bloomers helps keep color going from spring through fall. Great choices for our region include delphinium, foxglove, daisies, lupine, hollyhocks, salvia, and shasta daisies, along with plenty of hardy annuals for continuous color. The goal is steady interest, not everything blooming at once.
3. Embrace Layering and Texture
One of the keys to the cottage garden look is variety—not just in color, but in shape and texture. Combine soft, airy plants with bold foliage and upright bloomers to create depth and movement. Ornamental grasses, herbs like lavender and rosemary, and leafy perennials all help fill in the gaps and soften transitions between plants. The more variety you include, the more natural and established the garden will feel.
4. Let Plants Spill and Wander
Cottage gardens are meant to feel a little wild in the best possible way. Allowing plants to gently spill over edges, self-seed, or weave through one another adds to the charm. This is especially true for plants like sweet peas, nasturtiums, and columbine, which often reseed and move around the garden naturally. A little “organized chaos” is exactly what gives this style its character.
5. Include Shrubs and Structural Plants
While flowers are the heart of a cottage garden, shrubs and small trees help anchor the space. Plants like hydrangeas, roses, dwarf lilacs, and flowering fruit trees provide structure and seasonal interest. These backbone plants ensure the garden still looks beautiful even when perennials are between bloom cycles. They also help the space feel established and full, even in younger gardens.
6. Don’t Forget the Personal Touch
Cottage gardens are as much about personality as they are about plants. Pathways, arbors, trellises, and garden décor all help shape the experience of walking through the space. Climbing plants like clematis or climbing roses can soften fences and structures, making the garden feel more enclosed and intimate. The goal is a space that feels inviting, lived-in, and uniquely yours.
English cottage gardening works so well in the Pacific Northwest because it embraces what our climate already gives us—lush growth, rich color, and plants that thrive with minimal stress. It’s a style that doesn’t aim for perfection, but instead celebrates abundance and seasonal change.
At Deep Creek Garden Center, we love helping gardeners build spaces that feel personal, colorful, and full of life. Whether you’re starting small or transforming your whole yard, cottage gardening is one of the most rewarding ways to grow 🌿
🌱 Pro Tip: To achieve a true cottage garden feel, repeat a few key plants or colors throughout the space instead of using too many different varieties. Repetition creates harmony, even in a lush, informal design.
Deep Creek Garden Center Seasonal: Late March-Mid October
2330 NE Hogan Dr. Christmas: Black Friday thru December
Gresham, OR. 97030 503-492-2100
Keep us in mind this holiday season for fresh, locally grown Christmas trees and wreaths from our own family farms. Nobles, Nordmann, Grand and Douglas Firs, both green and flocked!
Proudly serving Gresham & surrounding areas of Sandy, Boring, Damascus, Troutdale, Fairview, Portland, Welches, Rhododendron, Eagle Creek & Estacada for over 30 years.
