Dcrosby, You may be right at the edge of zone 5/6. Check the map here. If you are still zone 5, you just need to do some winter protection. It should be fine. Climate affects disease susceptibility. In dryer, more arid climate like AZ or CA, they don't have to deal with fungal disease like we do here in humid East Coast. When you read people's recommendations, you want to see where they live. Different climate gives different results to the same rose variety. Spraying for roses every week or every two weeks is not my kind of fun (anymore). I didn't even want to smell the blooms after I sprayed the bushes. Now I don't spray, most of my roses esp. Austins look naked by mid summer. Here is a link that might be useful: MA new plant hardiness zone map

Bronze Fennel n the back for color, texture, butterflies and can be direct sown. Dill and Parsley also have that umbrel type flower that attracts beneficial insects. Parsley is Biennial but starts easily from seed with patience, you just have to wait until the second year for bloom. I planted seed every year for awhile, so I always have some seedlings getting ready for the next year and bloom for that year. I use mine mid border. Try wintersowing Hollyhocks when your house is finished. I gave up on Hollyhocks due to rust. Maybe you'll have better luck. They are gorgeous. Delphiniums are a great cottage garden plant, but not easy to start from seed and germination is low. The newer Millennium varieties are the best, and if you find seedlings for sale somewhere, you would probably be better off. I am talking about the perennial. Not sure if there is an annual? I grow my 4 oclocks in pots rather than the ground because they produce tubers that can keep coming back and I'm overly cautious about anything that can become a pest. They are very fragrant but open around dinner time not during the day. On a warm summer night the fragrance can really travel. I wouldn't be without them. Calendula is very easy and good for front of border. And easy to save the seed from year to year. Cosmos 'Double Click', I had this briefly, but it didn't stay upright Other single cosmos are great and do reseed in a mannerly way. I found that once I planted them, I was never without them again without any need for me to start more. Love Verbascum, but have not tried to grow hybrids from seed. It can be front of the border or mid border Achillea will spread a lot and quickly. Echinacea is a wonderful perennial addition and some varieties will reseed for you once established. I have a lot of seedlings this year. Some people find Verbena bonariensis a pest eventually. I have been growing it for about 3 years and this year I am starting to see it pops up in a lot of area that requires my attention. Still liking it though. Columbines are very easy but they reseed a little too vigorously for me. I still like them, but I deadhead carefully now. Dianthus is easy from seed, but I have only winter sown them not direct sown. I think they may need a cold period? They are a nice cottage garden plant for the front of the border and will give a good period of bloom if you don't mind deadheading them. They are another plant whose seed are very easy to save and start for year to year. Wintersowing them is as easy as it gets. There are perennial and annual versions. Some are fragrant. Four years, your Butterfly Bush should be performing well. Is it growing in full sun?

I sow a lot of hardy annuals - some are sown in pots to overwinter in a coldframe - especially if I do not have many seeds. Others are sown directly where I want them to grow. There is an enormous difference between autumn sown annuals and spring sown ones - a cornflower (centaurea annua) will flower a month earlier but will make an enormous plant - easily 4feet tall with hundreds of blooms. I frequently do a sowing under cover, a direct autumn sowing and another one in spring as I like a succession of flowers and am idle at deadheading. I am growing nigella bucharica, ammi majus, godetia, cerinthe, iberis, larkspur (consolida ajacis), gysophila kermesina, centaurea, red flax, echium plantagineum, eschscholzia, calendula, legousia, orlaya, phacelia, linaria, omphalodes linifolia, succisa pratensis, catananche, sweet peas and chicory. They germinate quickly (cornflowers and echium in 4 days) and will overwinter slowly, ready to explode into bloom when daylight hours permit. Half-hardy annuals (ipomea, cosmos, cleome, cobaens, tagetes are sown in March/April and as late as May/June for zinnia and salpiglossis.

Frances, Too early is when the ground is still solidly frozen. You'll break your back and shovel both then. The second time, is when It is too early in the AM, as before sunrise, when the street lights are still on. In the dark you will need someone to hold your lantern or flashlight, and any early rising or shift working neighbors who might see you, could call the cops. All kidding aside, this is the ideal time to move roses, when they are dormant. Get your new location hole dug first. Then dig your rose, getting as much soil ball as you can. Do it carefully, and your rose in its new home will wake up like nothing happened, not skipping a beat. Treat it like any freshly planted rose bush. Backfill with light, fluffy soil and water in generously. You cannot fail. Moses