Several websites call calendula a short lived perennial. I once had a tough one that did not mind a mild winter but lost all my seed in a move. I should like to find that strain again.

ed - found this in Wikipedia. ''Calendula officinalis is a short-lived aromatic herbaceous perennial''.

I'm really hoping my potted "Mystic Spires" salvia overwintered - it's in the barn right now. I absolutely adore this cultivar, and I've only found it at one nursery locally in the past, and some years they're sold out of it. Unfortunately, I didn't take cuttings early enough last fall and they didn't take. So if it managed to overwinter I'll have a good mother plant. (Of course, if I see them for sale this year I'll grab them and run, but I'm not counting on actually being that fortunate.)

Just seeing anything green popping up out of the soil now is a thrill. My daffodils and tulips are coming up, can't wait to see them in bloom, that's when I'll know spring is really here.

My folks live in zone 5/6. I planted snapdragons and Dusty Miller in their beds. Most of the Dustys came back year after year (got quite large, too), as did most of the snaps -- and in the case of the snaps, we're not talking reseeds (though there were plenty of those as well).

On a related but perennial note, also have had Gladiolus bulbs over winter year after year for about two decades or more up there. This is without lifting or mulching. Some are planted up against their house, others are in a bed in the middle of their yard. Ironically, the winter hardy strain of glads I tried all died. These long term survivors are the "normal" run-of-the-mill glads sold by BBSs.

Suspect much of this success is due to persistent snow cover through much of the winter there.

My snapdragons winter through till February but the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycles of March and April usually kill them. One year they made it through and grew into a bush! What a thrill. No other annual has ever made it through. I rely on reseeding which can handle the freeze-thaw. Those reseedlings are so uplifting in spring.