Home + Garden Garden Container Gardens How to Plant a Cottage Garden in a Pot By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 2, 2023 Trending Videos A colorful cottage garden in a big container will thrive throughout the summer. 01 of 05 Step 1: Gather Materials Start with large plants that will fill the pot and look great as soon as they're planted. 'Tiger Eye' Rudbeckia, bright Gomphrena, Dragon Wing begonias, variegated oregano and a rosemary plant will fit into a 19-inch pot. 02 of 05 Step 2: Prep Container and Plants Fill the container with potting mix to a couple of inches below the rim. As you remove each plant from the grower's pot, gently tease out the roots. Before planting, we recommend dunking the root ball in a bucket of water to make it more malleable. 03 of 05 Step 3: Add Plants Next, place the tallest plant at the back of the pot, in this case the Rudbeckia. We worked from back to front, adding the begonias on either side of the Rudbeckia and the rosemary in the center. 04 of 05 Step 4: Finish Arrangement To complete your cottage garden, tuck the Gomphrena and variegated oregano into the front of the pot. Water well and enjoy your colorful new creation. 05 of 05 Experiment Next Time We suggested some of our favorite flowers and herbs for this arrangement, but you can simply use what's available in your garden. The basic techniques will work well for almost any kind of container garden. Container Gardens Just Right for the Midwest Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit