To start your xeriscape cottage garden, work from the ground up and learn what you need to do to the soil to increase water absorption while maintaining excellent drainage. Consider adding native plants to your palette, and begin to think more regionally about cottage gardening.
The cottage garden look just does appear more natural. And I believe, as Robinson did, that true artists imitate nature rather than trying to beat it into submission, so to speak. Robinson's Handiwork A member of the Linnean Society by age 29, Robinson soon was hobnobbing with the likes of Charles Darwin and James Veitch.
A thread in the Florida Gardening forum, titled Cottage Gardens in Florida
A thread in the Specialty Gardening forum, titled suggested foundation plants for zone 9 cottage garden
I came to know Gertrude Jekyll through my love of the cottage garden style. There is a cross-stitch of 'Miss Hathaway's Garden ' [1] hanging in my great room directly in my line of sight so that I enjoy it every day, and this is what I want my gardens to be: a riot of color, seemingly unmanaged, but carefully planned. Last year when there was discussion about starting a new Cottage Gardening ...
As Mitch said, lots of the "classic" perennials of an English cottage garden will absolutely fry here, but you can still accomplish the cottage look be simply using plants with similar growth habits/similar looks, that do well in TX, most notably TX natives. Some of those classic perennials can be grown here during the winter, as annuals.
Country Living UK on MSN: 12 pretty cottage garden ideas for a wild outdoor space – including best self-seeding plants