Lovely offer roxanna7. I may well have some plants to share also and will be in Camden at some point in June if that is near you and you would like me to send you a list of possibilities.

Wellllllllll!!!!!!! How exciting! I just happen to have a weekend event in Northborough this weekend! I'll PM you via Houzz to ask where you live. Also, NHBabs, I might be "on your way" to Camden depending on the route you go. If you travel from Brunswick up route 1, we're in luck! Will PM both of you through Houzz.

Roxanna, you don't have messaging enabled on your Houzz, but I do. If you click on my name, you should see a "Message" box in the left side of the banner that serves as a heading and has my Houzz name in it. Click on that and let me know where you live with regards to Northborough. Thank you!

Deanna, I sent you a message. =)

Deanna, did you get my message via Houzz?

I don’t have plants to offer but can offer sympathy! I have fairly big space and limits on budget and time. It would (will be?) be lovely to have full. It is a slow process.

Deanne - I'm curious why a lot of those plants didn't come back for you. I always thought of those as pretty dependable. Are they not hardy there, or do you have special conditions?

Maine was in drought last summer unlike my area, but then had the same sudden drop in temperatures last fall like much of New England and the odd fluctuations in winter temperatures with lots of rain and thaws. So I am not surprised that relatively new plants struggled and many didn’t make it.

Just bad timing I guess. It was an odd winter here too, with a lot less snow cover. I was expecting to see some losses, but I got lucky I guess. We have a small enough property to keep up with watering with rain barrels too, so at least that wasn't an issue to compound the problems. That's too bad. Hate to lose plants. So disappointing in the spring to see bare spots.

Roxanna, I did get your message! Let me know if you didn't get my response.

Prairie, my Coreopsis were fancy cultivars so I knew they were "iffy" anyway, 'Peach Sparkle' and 'Heaven's Gate. ' The Sheffield Pink mum is only zone 5, so I think the conditions NHBabs described above for us did them in, though I must admit I am surprised. The asters did surprise me, but I'm waiting to see if the new growth just looks sparser because they are surrounded by nothing right now, which puts them completely in the limelight. They could be perfectly normal, but I won't know until later. The Dianthus are sold as annuals here, but they are short-lived perennials. They held on for two years and about 1/4 survived this past winter. I have some Veronica 'First Love' in that area and they are ecstatic right now, as are all my other Dianthus, both cheddar and maiden pinks. 'First Love' was compact the first year, as it is supposed to be, at under 18" tall. Last year they grew 3 feet! I don't know what happened, but they were soooo tall! Curious to see how they do this summer.

I just looked at those two Coreopsis and they're very pretty. I usually find lots of photos of new cultivars that are very appealing, but then you often read about the experiences people have with them, that are not always the best. I was in love with all the new Echinaceas and never found one that was a keeper and I gave up on them pretty quickly. I have heard that the new cultivars of Coreopsis don't always perform well too. I bought one last year, any way. [g] I forget which one. It was a yellow, and it was in bloom at the nursery so it was an impulse buy. It was awful in the garden and I ripped it out by the end of the season. I did think the 'Sheffield Pink' Mum was supposed to perform well though. And I love that it is a single blossom that will feed pollinators.

I'm so surprised that the Veronica is the one that is doing so well. I have terrible luck with Veronicas. [g]. I will be interested to see how they perform over the summer and into the fall too. I only have two Dianthus and they keep coming back every year and reseed as well. One is Siberian Blue. Are any of yours fragrant?

Deanna, I did get your message! Looking forward to hearing from you -- hope a visit will work out.

Roxanna, I am very sorry to say that the weekend was packed. I hate that I was sooooo close to you and it didn't work out, especially since I would have loved some Mayapple. I should have emailed you sooner, and I am very sorry. The garden is still bare. ;-( I would have loved to have met you, as well.

The asters seem to coming back nice and full, so that's good. In another area I lost 8-10 brunnnera, so I'm looking at all the mulch there, thinking about what might have been. Just a bad winter! I am grateful that nearly all of my huge swath of echinacea survived despite being covered by a foot of oak leaves. I always worry that they'll rot, but they're doing just fine.

NHBabs, let me know if you are coming to Camden, just so we can meet even if we don't swap plants!

If you ever come to Lexington Ma and environs, have I got a garden to give you.

It sounds like you need some big shrubs to take up some square footage. Shrubs and trees make a mighty fine backdrop for perennials, can offer some temperature moderation, extend the flowering season. I started really concentrating on shrubs about 15 years ago, that's when my gardens started looking 'mature'

Anyway, please feel free to contact me any time and I'll see what I can 'dig up' for you.

Marie

Thank you so much, Marie! If I'm heading down to Mass again this summer I'll send you a message and see if you're available. I appreciate the offer!