Ideas to landscape my MI summer home with flowering shrubs & flowers.

Hello Donna; I would honestly begin by visiting my local nursery. Most of these places offer a wealth of information, and they have the proper plants, for where you reside in MI.

Aside from that; Cider trees would look lovely in your yard, and also boxwoods would be nice looking close to your home. Azaleas are quite beautiful and flower part of the year. Any local to you flowers would be a major plus/bonus!! I would put something bright that flowers in pots on either side of your steps!

I hope that this will help you!! Good Luck!!

Love Sunny's suggestions! How about a few roses? I love sunflowers and are easy to grow and grow quickly. Jasmine would make things smell pretty too. By the steps I would place some yard art or welcome sign and have some happy daisy plants bopping in the breeze. 🙄

I am not familiar with what grows in colder climates, but shrubs that don't need much pruning and flower are the lowest maintenance I've found that would be good in a cottage garden. But my beautiful blue Plumbago won't grow up there. Most flowers are not low maintenance - unless they are perennial (or re-seeding annuals) that are self cleaning. That means you don't have to keep picking the dead flowers off to get new ones to grow. The plants I use wouldn't work in MI.... You'll need to pay some attention to how much sun you get under that tree, too (probably partial) and the rest that looks like full sun. Cottage style also works well with grasses which just require a little maintenance once a year.

Old-fashioned roses, not teas, hollyhocks, foxglove (beware, all parts of this are poison), gladiolas in the back. Mid level; lilies, both day and oriental, iris, in front try carnation and Dian thus, peoneys. The secret to a cottage look is close planting. The look should be 'overgrown' without actually being so. Heavy mulching too keep weeds down, and a preemergent weed (Preem) control should make the beds look casual without too much work

Enlarge the area around the large tree and put in a few of the larger hostas in there. No fuss, no muss with them and they would fill in the area around the tree that is shady and intersperse a few perennial flowers in the area for more color to brighten the darkish area. I would also put in a border along the sidewalk with a perennial that would be good for your area. See what the neighboring landscaped yards have that would be good for what you envision your yard looking like.

Hostas need shade....and not a cottage style look. https://www.pinterest.com/explore/cottage-front-yard/?lp=true

Shutters & flower boxes around the windows. Boxwoods on the ground