They're hardy here in Z6 and come back reliably year after year altho' not always robust following a truly arctic winter. They can form into shrub-like clumps if not pruned back hard early in the growing season. Definitely prefer full sun but I have them growing in partial sun on both the western and northern areas of my gardens where they get some hours of shade each day. Really easy to grow from seed via winter sowing BTW. Stems get pretty woody so pruning isn't just the weed-whacker sort--needs lopping or pruning shears. If you want more specific growing info, check out the growing details at White Flower Farms' website or a good perennial guide. Anything flowering here in October is welcome regardless of bloom color. Have you considered toad lily/Tricyrtis for color/form contrast?

Joanne, Montauk daisies are supposed to be pruned twice a year--June 1 and December 1. Those dates are guidelines and could be adjusted to fit the school schedule. It might be a learning experience for the kids to see them get cut back and how they grow back to bloom a few months later. Letting the kids stick one of the late-season cuttings in a paper cup with potting soil would be another teachable moment. For spring blooming interest, there's lots of stuff to choose from: bulbs like Pushkinia, grape hyacinth & squill, plus perennials such as lungwort, Pasque flower, Lenten rose, lady's mantle, Siberian bugloss & bleeding heart among others. The bleeding heart would be a great teaching tool given the flowers' shape.

Maybe someone else who knows more about montauk daisies will chime in, but in the meanwhile, I'll give my 2 cents. Bugs are a normal part of gardens. If they're not doing any harm, and/or if you haven't identified them and determined that they are Evil, just ignore them. It's perfectly normal for the old stems on MD to be brown, so that's not really an indication that anything is wrong. If you still have the plant out of the soil, post a photo somewhere and maybe we can ID the bugs. There's a chance that they're completely benign and that your MDs are too.

I put one in at the school where I used to work, and after 20+ years, it is still growing strong and the single plant is the size of a small shrub. It’s nice because its fall bloom happens soon after the school year starts. It looks a lot better if it gets trimmed back in spring to remove the dead stems. I don’t know whether that is an issue everywhere or just here and it’s the parts that were above the snow all winter. If I am in the area, I will take some photos. It is easy to start from cuttings.