Well I plant almost entirely for hummingbirds so my choices may not be to your liking but one plant I love is coral honeysuckle. Mine is forming flower buds now even though I hacked it at the wrong time and even broke of the tap root when I transplanted it in the fall. It blooms all summer until fall. Grows best in full sun but mine is in morning sun until about 1 or two in the afternoon.

Salvia coccineas are annuals for us but will reseed in good soil. They like it on the dry side and will bloom in part sun.

Salvia Azurea gets very tall. with big blue blooms in late summer. Does best in well drained soil.

My daylilly does well in any kind of soil and even in a container

Jacob's Ladder is a spring blooming perennial and may bloom again if the flower spikes are removed.

Lobelia siphiltica (Great Blue Lobelia) blooms mid to late summer does best with moist soil but can handle dry also.

Lobelia cardinalis prefers moist soil but supplimental water works just as well. Mine do better with supplemental water as our wet winters usually do it in if I plant it in a moist area.

My helleborus is in a pretty dry area in early spring sun until the trees leaf out and then it is in dense shade. Blooms very early spring.

My hostas are in dry conditions in part shade.

Penny

Not everyone agrees with what another says should/shouldn't be planted. :) A lot depends upon tastes, space, conditions, intent, availability, etc. Given your bent toward 'cottage style':

In my experience, bearded and siberian irises do very well here. I've never had luck with Dutch irises, or anything "special" (like miniature bearded).

Daylilies grow very well here, as I've recently learned.

I started Hollyhock from seed several years ago... I'd recommend them.

Fragrants for your 'cottage garden': lilacs, peonies, tall phlox, lily of the valley (for the right spot), spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils, grape hyacinths, tulips, etc.

Hostas grow very well here! although they probably aren't considered part of the 'cottage style'.

Some people panned Monarda, and I'd only partially agree -- some run aggressively, some don't.

I love a free-form conversation and can go on-and-on. :O) What plants do you already have? what are your conditions and spaces like that you are looking to "fill"?

There are so many great possibilities for plants to grow in CNY! Here are some of my favorites:

Dry Shade: Hosta, Lamium, Toad Lilies (Tricyrta), Variegated Solomon's Seal. I just planted Sweet Woodruff and Lamiastrum 'Hermann's Pride,' too. I have LOTS of dry shade. . . .

Moist(er) Shade/Part Shade: Astilbe, Hosta, Ferns (like Lady Fern, or Autumn Fern - many hardy northern ones work well), heuchera, columbine, Lady's Mantle (alchemilla). (I have very little moist shade, but I just extended a bed and planted Ligularia 'The Rocket,' and Lobelia 'Ruby Slippers,' and a marginally hardy Carex [sent as a bonus with my Bluestone order] by a downspout in the shade.)

Sun/Part Sun, average moisture to a little dry: Oh, the possibilities! Bearded Irises of all sizes, herbaceous and tree peonies, dormant or semi-evergreen daylilies, hardy rudbeckias and coneflowers, asters, lavender 'Munstead,' shasta daisies and hardy mums, siberian irises, miscanthus sinensis (grass), pennisetum alopecuroides (grass), sedums, centranthus ruber (Jupiter's Beard), asiatic and oriental lilies, hardy salvias, liatris spicata, knautia macedonica, asclepias tuberosa (orange butterfly weed), rugosa roses, Canadian "Explorer Series" roses, many hybrid roses (if you're willing to pamper them a bit), geraniums (like 'Rozanne' or 'Brookside' or 'Ballerina'), stachys (lamb's ears - can be invasive),
rhubarb (a great tropical-looking foliage accent), clematis - and on and on and on.

Hope this helps!

Laurel

Hi Carolyn,
For easy care roses, steer clear of Hybrid Teas. They are, in general, not as vigorous as other rose types and get black spot easy. Also, try to buy own-root not grafted roses. The graft is the weak spot where roses get killed during the winter. If you do buy grafted roses, make sure to plant the rose deep so the graft is below the soil.
If you like the look of Hybrid Teas, I suggest Buck roses. Dr. Buck worked to breed roses that were cold hardy and disease resistant. His most famous rose is 'Carefree Beauty' though that one is a shrub rose not one of his Hybrid Tea types.
Old cold hardy roses are another option. The Alba, Gallica, and Damask type roses are very easy to grow. The one drawback is they only bloom once, but they are covered in hundreds of wonderfully fragrant roses during bloom time. You'll get quite a show while they bloom, so I just love them.
There are some repeat blooming old roses like Hybrid Perpetuals. I have 'Marchesa Boccella'. It is a wonderful easy to grow variety.
Rugosa type roses are another option. I have 'Hansa'. It is my first rose to bloom every year, and it is very fragrant. Rugosas are very disease tolerant. In fact they don't like to be sprayed. One drawback to rugosas is they don't make good cut flowers, they wilt pretty much immediately.
If you're looking for climbers, I would looking into the Canadian Explorer roses. There are some that make nice climbers. The one drawback is many have no fragrance.
As you can see, there are many options: )
Unfortunately, it is often hard to find them locally. I have mail ordered most of my roses.
REmy

Well, I didn't check the thread yet on what not to plant but I hope yarrow is in there. Unless you want a yarrow field in which case, go for it.

I've had the following perennials for at least 3-4 years with no complaints or invasivness:

tall phlox (just make sure to spray fungicide to avoid powdery mildew)
liatris
climbing hydrangea
hollyhocks
siberian iris
daylily (of course)
virginia spiderwort (many people complain about this being invasive. I think it's so pretty and it blooms all summer. I wish it would spread. In three years it has remained the exact 1 gallon size that I planted it! It's in poor soil)
coreopsis(any variety but be prepared to deadhead often)
perennial geranium
lady's mantle(a must have for the foliage alone)
guara
upright sedum

I have lily of the valley which I hate but it doesn't come out.

My bleeding hearts, delphiniums, and bee balm all died after one measly winter.

Oh, and I have an iceberg floribunda rose that is unstoppable. I accidentally hacked it to the graft union last fall (don't ask) and it's back in full force. It was a $4 Walmart special!

Forget to mention columbine. My Harlequin mix that I started from seed 3 seasons ago is huge and blooms twice.

Hi! Bearded iris, liatris, sweet william, lady's mantle, forget me not, hollyhocks, peonies, lilacs, butterfly bush, hostas, dianthus are all great. I also like the icicle pansies, by fernlea nurseries, for early spring color. My bee balm suffers from powdery mildew by mid-season, and obedient plant is anything but... I also really like succulents, esp. hens and chicks and sedums and I like some annuals like zinnias, osteopernum, and cosmos (which self-sows pretty reliably).

This area (CNY) seems to be well-suited for many species of Campanula. Yes, some do tend to spread and/or seed around - I have a large garden so I consider this a benefit, not a problem. I grow a number of species - in a fenced garden, as Campanulas are a favorite food of woodchucks. That is their only drawback, in my opinion.

-Caroline

I like coral bells, delphinium, columbine, siberian iris, foxglove, peonies, painted daisy, perennial geranium, and daylily for sun.

For shade I like trillium, hellebore, hosta, primrose, Solomon's seal, bleeding heart, ferns, and monkshood.

I'm having a hard time with roses. The ones that are supposed to be hardy die. The ones that were supposed to be marginal do OK. The ones I can't even name thrive. Go figure.

Lupine is one of my many favorites but I caught a woodchuck eating the flowers last year. I also like Foxglove. They both reseed nicely. I have had no problems with bleeding hears. I have had them for over 30 years. Noticed "babies" yesterday. Iris do very well. I had phlox forever and seven Sister Roses. I've sure I have much more to list. But it's 7:30 am Saturday...coffee is done brewing. I'm gonna pour a cup and walk through the garden. Any one want to join me. - kim

It's the weekend, so I can get back on the web. Thanks for everyone's answers, so far! I'm going to print them out and put them in my garden notebook, as soon as I start one Our house is older, so I've inherited whatever anyone else planted. There are just kind of plain landscaping evergreens in the front yard, and a straight walkway. Since major projects are OUT this summer, I've decided to soften the lines of that with some astilbe. I love flowing, feathery plants.

Plants I have: Lily of the Valley (like everyone else on here, I guess. As we just moved, I'm going to have to try to trade what I have; someone maybe wants some...somewhere in Upstate NY!!), lots of forget-me-nots right now, and although they're spreading, I love their misty blue-and-white look. Lots of lambs ear, going to dig some of that, too. I have the unnamed roses that someone mentioned, too! I'm going to dig them; I think they're tea roses, and I really don't want to do any spraying, and I hate seeing plants get totally eaten up. Maybe someone will want some of these, too. I have three gigantic and healthy bleeding hearts (two pink, 1 white) that will do just fine where they are.

Other than that, there are many things that I can't identify just by their leaves, so I'll have to wait and see. There's some wispy, deep purple spider shaped perennial that just bloomed. I like them, but don't know what they are.

Anyone have recommendations for good plant identifying books or other sources?

I found Pippi's Perennials at the Regional Market; she's very easy to talk to, and gives lots of information, so every payday, I plan to go and find some more stuff, in addition to my wintersown seedlings that are coming along.

Carolyn in Jordan, who has done enough housework, and REALLY wants to get outside!