Thanks Edna, and yes that is a brug. I have the tithonia. I' ve grown it before and remember how the butterflys love it. Just across the way, I also have 2 Harlequinn Glorybower trees which are butterfly magnets too. I forgot to mention that I also hav butterfly weed and zinnias planted in the new garden area. :) Jan

Thanks everyone! Sherry, have you tried all coneflower species? The species Echinacea simulata & Echinacea laevigata are very rare in commerce, but they are found in nature in both (northern) Alabama and Georgia. Perhaps these southern species would be more successful for you?

I've had the same thing happen to coneflowers and black-eyed susans. Sometimes it has been just a stem or two, other times it's been the whole clump. I have never been able to figure out with any certainty what the cause was. When it's been just a stem or two, I have cut the affected stems to the ground and the plant has survived. When it has spread to the entire clump, it's been fatal. Good luck Totally Confused

* Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum 'Album') * Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) * Foamflower (Tiarella) * Speedwell (Veronica longifolia 'Icicle') * Astilbe All of these like part-shade or filtered sun. (Here in Okie) They are particularly suited for a Woodland garden, but do fine for me in filtered sunlight, like at the edge of shrubs, the house or tree line where they have afternoon shade. All get very tall, have feathery or spikey white flowers that stand well above their surrounding plants. Speedwell can take a lot of sun. If you have very tall trees around your place or over your garden which provides "High shade", then they can grow in more sun in that filtered full sun. They all have beautiful foliage. * I want to add that for me, my coneflowers foliage does not get ratty, but they were originally native to the Plains, so maybe that makes a difference. The only time mine get ratty is when grasshoppers chew on them (like this year) or butterfly larva hatch on them and eat all the foliage off. Butterflies seem to pick one plant in my garden every year for the nursery and that one plant gets it's leaves devoured. However, the leaves all grow back and they bloom again. Research has more recently learned that as bad as grasshoppers are, they actually have the richest manure there is to be found. They are one of the reasons why wild prairies and meadows thrive. Grasshopper poop? Who da thunk it! Asters do great here. Beautiful in the fall when the Goldenrod are also in bloom. I only have the wild ones that were here when I bought the property. There are a number of varieties of wild Asters that grow here. There are four colors. I love them. Some are invasive, but pretty much stay to their areas, so not a problem for me, anyways. Again, mine are all native plants. Cultivers are probably better behaved. ~Annie Here is a link that might be useful: White flowers fit for a Cottage Garden