The Cottage Gardening "look" HAS to be the hardest one to "get right" as opposed to just regular "landscaping". It's definitely "trial and error" for me and I still haven't gotten mine the way I want it to be, and more than likely never will !
It seems like I'm forever moving plants around, re-doing certain sections, choosing the wrong plants for the locale etc.,and it never ends. Then again, I get bored with things always looking a certain way for too long, then I get the bug to change things around.
The biggest frustration is wanting MORE plants than I have room for. It can become a sickness if you let it ! (been there...done that...STILL doing it.......lol )
Something tells me I need to STOP looking at on-line nursery websites........