IME, a certain amount of it sounds like normal growing old. I have a lot, a LOT, of creeping thyme. About every three years, I get a major dieoff. It comes back, and I've learned not to worry about it. It doesn't seem connected with how bad the winter was. It just happens.

I am about to give up on asters. I don't seem able to keep the cultivars alive, and the weedy, wild ones are everywhere.

Sheffield pink reseeds for me. I lose it in one part of the garden, and it reappears somewhere else. I'm suspicious I don't really have enough sun for it.

Dianthus and I have soil issues. I don't think it likes mine. For years, the only way I could get dianthus to survive the winter was to only buy it from the White Flower Farms tent sale. They were personally growing their diantus then, so I had a head start on getting plants that would have some clue about my weather. At one point, I had four or five different kinds. They stopped doing the tent sales, and the only dianthus I currently have is Bath's Pink. I have it in several places, so if I lose if in one place, I'll still have it somewhere else.

I think I got a veronica through the winter once. No idea why, but they definitely do not like me. Salvias are almost as bad.

Baptisias disappear. Things eat them. I've had the same thing happen to Siberian iris.

Lavender I tend to do all right with. I does get old and woody and in need of replacement.The strange thing I lost was a lot of Virginia bluebells. I usually have a big patch blooming in May, but this year the only ones I had were in the lawn.

My creeping thyme (ME 5b) does not die. It's crept into my lawn and going strong, despite my efforts to eradicate it.

My bearberry suffered this year, as did new heathers. I think it was the cold, dry wind we had in late March/early April. My Dianthus, salvia, lavender, veronica and Baptisia are doing okay. My hellebore suffered.

I lost what was a flourishing Hello Yello asclepias, so went and bought a pricey new one. Then, of course, just this week part of the old popped up. Dianthus has almost never come back for me, oddly oddly, some did this year.

I actually did lose some golden thyme, but it had been getting out of control and I trimmed it back with the lawn mower in the fall just before winter. That was a mistake, I can trim it back that way, just not in the fall, I guess. It’s fine though because some of it survived in the pathways between my raised vegetable beds. The rest of my thyme came back fine including wooly thyme which is very short. I thought it was slow to come back though. I thought Elfin Thyme was prone to loss for me. I know I bought it a couple of times and do not still have it. I do have clay soil, and I’m pretty sure thymes prefer a lighter soil. I have had great success with the taller thymes and not so much on all the great creeping thymes that can be used as ground cover and between pavers etc.

I don’t have Sheffield Pink so I can’t advise.

I have only Aster ‘Alma Potschke’ and that came back fine. One note. In my yearly struggle with the rabbits, I’ve decided to try to coexist. They did chew back part of my plant, and I ignored it. Normally I would trim off the damaged shoots to neaten it up, but I left it. I feel great about it because they helped me out, the plant responded by becoming bushier and fuller. Now it looks great again…lol. So now I don’t feel like I have to worry about the rabbits chewing it. This variety is very robust and tall.

Funny, I did lose one variety of Dianthus. I don’t remember the name, but I think it might have been ‘Brilliant’ It’s very low to the ground with tiny flowers. But really, that plant always gives me trouble and I decided last year to remove it. And I did but I left two plants undisturbed and they did come back but slowly and have barely a bloom on them. The other Dianthus I have is ‘Siberian Blues’ which starts from seed and reseeds well. Mine looks very healthy and vigorous this spring and is not quite ready to bloom. I do collect the seed and I’ve never lost it one season in 15 years. Happy to share with anyone who wants to try it. I’ll post a photo when it blooms. I used to buy a lot of Dianthus but I’ve cooled off on them. I love the doubles but I discovered the one I had looked horrible after a rain, the flowers would turn to mush and I pulled it out.

Lavender - I don’t grow that any more. Again my clay soil is not a favorite of lavender. I had found a couple of varieties that did okay for me, ‘Lavender Lady’ was one, but it just didn’t fit my bed any more. Losing half a plant, makes me wonder if you have a critter problem. A mole? Or something?

I don’t grow Veronica. Very weird on the Salvias and Baptisia? I couldn’t kill mine even when I tried to. [g]

Salvias are another plant that prefer sandy soil, that along with the Agastches. In my full sun bed, I intentionally built up a slope along the front to the street and added a lot of gravel/stones about a foot and a half under the soil there. I do love salvias and agastaches. I still don’t have a lot of luck with most of them, but I’ve managed to keep ‘Blue Hills’ and ‘Rose Queen’ Salvias coming back and ‘Honey Bee Blue’ Agastache. I plan to keep trying to use them and I plant them at the top of a small slope with the added gravel along the slope. It’s really not a large area or a tall slope but it seems to be doing the trick.

Virginia Bluebells, have never increased for me. I get the same original plant I added every season. [g] This year I discovered the rabbits have been eating it back. I’m thinking maybe that’s happened before and I never noticed it.

Sigrid, brings up a good point - it was a super windy year. I’ve never seen so much wind, so frequently.

I actually lost very little. The roses which sometimes have die back to the base did well this year and look particularly lush.

Sorry Deanna, that has to be very disappointing! But - as has been said to me often, a great opportunity to go on a shopping spree. 😬

MG,I'm glad I'm not the only one with aster issues. I've lost Monch, too. My 'Alma Potschke' looks great, but she's much younger. I put some beautiful 'Bridal Veil' aster in clay because they are supposed to be happy in clay, and they are NOT happy. I love this aster. I probably need to rescue it and put it in a pot to recuperate before they're all gone.

MG, that's intersting about the dianthus. It seems Bath's Pink is indeed a survivor. Good thing that she's gorgeous, too! The thing about my lavender is just the right side dying. I eas wondering if it was the foot of leaves that constantly blow on it all winter and fester there. No way to keep it clear, but it's been happy for the past six years till now.

Sigrid, my elfin thyme is slowly coming in now. It's so weird that it's late. my larger creeping thymes are stiill either not coming in or struggling. Same place in garden as eflin, so it's just weird. We are in a wind tunnel when winds come from any southerly direction, so maybe that's part of my problem, too.

Barrheadlass, Aslcepias are always one of the latest perennials to appear. They send up shoots after the weather is warmer. Was yours late compared to other plants (normal) or late even for an Asclepias? Some of my Swamp Milkweed was later than normal becuase of all the leaves on top of them, so I removed the leaves and the little shoots are moving faster now.

PM, I think I did do some trimming last year on my thyme, but I thought it was mainly deadheading. Maybe I trimmed too much. I'll definitely keep a note of that for future. My soil is also clay, but when I do a new area I do serious compost and peat ammending. My asters did NOT get ammending. Clearly only echinacea like my clay! Even my baptisia in clay are sturggling, while the garden baptisia are growing quickly. I was hoping it would be a meadow plant. I am finding meadows practically impossible to create without a serious overhaul, which seems to be the opposite of the point of a meadow. I do not have a meadow yet at all, but I do have weeds and dying meadow plants in there. Go figure!

PM, funny you mention "Rose Queen" because that's what died for me. The soild should be good, but maybe it gets some shade from a nearby tall Japanese Maple. Also, I always wonder about the 12" of leaf tarp that accumulates all winter.

Maybe with six on six i can figure out what to plant. I didn't do any wintersowing last year, but at least this year I know what I need to replace! I like the Rose Queen salvia and dianthus!

Here is 'Alma Potschke' recovered after the rabbits chewed it down on this side.

Deanna, I love meadows and in my full sun bed, I did try to grow semi meadow plants that at least might give the effect of a meadow, but, it just became too messy for me. I'll just have to admire natural meadows on someone else's property.

I wonder if you've ever had a look at the book 'Meadows' by Christopher Lloyd? I enjoyed the photos of actual meadows in that book.

I also lost thyme and lavender. The thyme was years old. Phenominal lavender mostly rotted (this variety is supposed to be better with rain and humidity) I don’t have good luck with lavenders and should stop buying.

My ”gay butterfly” asclepias is just through the ground this week. zone 7a SW CT shore area. Common milkweed is already over 2 feet so quite different. Give it more time.

When I had lavender, I started mine easily from seed. 'Lavender Lady' was the variety and I had great luck with it coming back every year and performing even in my heavier clay soil. And its then easy to increase the amount you have or replace anything that's not performing well. People on the Burpee site report trouble with germination but I don't remember having any. I believe I probably started them winter sowing.

It is a little on the short side and not as exciting as some of the newer cultivars but still had that great lavender fragrance and appearance. I'd rather have reliable then exciting and missing.

Burpee is offering seed...

Lavender Lady seed

Hmm, I may have to see if I can find some of that seed.

Many years ago, I had a lavender hedge of Lady that I grew from seed. It was around for maybe ten years because I replaced the dead ones with volunteers. No other lavender I've tried has even come close to that one in indestructibility. I was somewhat mystified when it seemed to disappear.

Oh I also remembered that my two Salivas reseed. I put a seedling into a veg bed last year to grow it on a bit and I just transplanted that back into my bed, so I have two of the Blue Hills. And I noticed a seedling around the base of Rose Queen. So another good reason to grow it.

Re my asclepias…all my others were way up when the Hello Yellow was still MIA. Brdri…you mentioned Gay Butterflies. I have never been able ro find that! My swamp milkweed, planted last year, is over 2 feet tall now.

My lavender should be 'Ellagance Purple' (yes, that is how they spell it). I believe that the one thing I did that made my lavender live up here in this wet winter area is lay pea gravel over the dirt after they were planted. I learned that from the Canterbury Shaker Village in NH. Helps with draining and encourages dry crowns. They are in an elevated bed, as well, but I think the gravel makes more difference!

We lost a few plants also. Lack of snow cover and warmer temps during Winter. We lost our Thyme and Sage plants. 2 Butterfly Bushes, Cone Flower plants and a couple of climbing roses. 1 lavender plant. Seems Winters are not like they used to be. Lack of snow covering is taking its' tole sadly. Depending on what map you look at we are zone 5b or 6a.

Brdrl: yesterday i put post to thank you for the asclepias gay butterflies tip. Oddly, it isnt here. So, thanks!

Deanna, your list sounds like some of the favorites of my voles, so perhaps you had voles this winter.

NHBabs, that has been my secret fear. I lost my best mousers—my German-Sheperd./collie mix died in 2019 and later that same year my daugher took her cat, who was a great mouser. The animals left behind are pretty lazy. I’ve seen a dramatic decrease in intestines and guts at the front door. In the back of my mind I’ve been really wondering about the voles. I almost posted a question about it. Thanks for the help. I think I might officially have a vole problem!!