If you like having butterflies visit your yard, few things are more attractive to them than Lantana. If your Mom wouldn't mind, take some cuttings from her plants and literally just stick them in the ground. Water every few days if it doesn't rain. I just added pics including a Lantana cutting from last year that's growing back nicely this spring, in this discussion. Butterfly bushes (Buddleia) are just as easy to multiply, but somebody has to have one to get started. Easy to find in stores, inexpensive, or through trading. Of course BF's like butterfly bushes, HA! Basil flowers are beloved by BF's and bees. If you have a little patch of ground to scatter some basil seeds, they should have plenty of time to make flowers this year. Then, of course, the leaves are yummy. The flowers are white, so don't clash with anything, not that exciting visually, but I've seen hummingbirds visiting them also. That gets it a prized spot in my opinion. That's really cool your sprouts survived some frosts! Has anyone else noticed, the seed sprouts are all plain green, top and bottom. The plants coming back from previous years' tubers have red on the back of their leaves. I was very intrigued by the first one I saw in the back yard because I didn't recognize it at first, but could tell it was growth, not a sprout, and there were no weeds there to be growing back. Never know what could creep over from the abandoned yard next door though.

I got the best swap ever I'm sure in Garden Web history: 22 lbs of healthy peony roots and growth buds sent cross country last Fall. This year as they are all up and growing, I noticed a few blacked leaves and immediately ran to Google. That link (thanks Elaine in OR) is exactly what my plants look like and I've been cutting off whole stems/leaves and putting plastic bags into the garbage as fast as I can. Is there an evil, vile chemical anti fungal spray I could be using to save the rest of the plants? I usually turn my back on sprays, but am willing to do whatever it takes to kill this fungus or the little dastardly thrips that might appear in my gladiolas. TIA Poochella

Boy did you come to the right place, eterprincess! All peonies die back with cold weather and come back in the spring. The difference between herbaceous and tree is that the tree peonies don't die back to the ground and actually put out leaves and buds from the limbs from previous years as well as new sprouts from the ground every spring. Some tree peonies can get pretty tall and they generally have more dramatic colored blooms. You'll want to avoid cutting long stems from your tree peonies if you like bringing blooms inside because you'd effectively be pruning your tree peony, most people just float the tree blooms if they cut them at all. Most tree peonies are early- mid spring bloomers. Some varieties that come from lutea backgrounds have been known to have a very short flush of fall blooms, even. Kousa had one this year!! Very exciting for a peony to bloom in the fall! Herbaceous peonies die all the way to the ground every winter and new shoots emerge every spring. There are thousands of varieties now and they bloom from very early spring through early summer, depending on the variety. Itohs are hybrids between herbaceous and tree peonies. Some have more dramatic colors in the blooms like tree peonies but typically die back every winter like herbaceous. Some people say their Itohs don't die back all the way and put out new growth from the limbs, I have seen buds higher up on the lower stems of my Itohs but don't have any that act like trees, might be a zone thing. Peonies range in price from just a couple of bucks/root to hundreds of dollars. I've heard the first Itohs on the market went for thousands! You can get bagged peonies from the big box stores and most will grow fine but it'll normally take several years to get blooms. Most nurseries sell potted peonies in the spring that are already or are ready to bloom, those can be placed in a shadier than you'd normally put peonies spot for the summer, watered when they start to dry out, and planted in the fall. Or there are massive numbers of on-line nurseries that specialize in peonies that you can buy from, those roots are typically big enough to bloom 1st or 2nd spring after planting. I know there are a couple that are having sales now that have good reps, the link below is to Hidden Springs, their sale ends on either the 15th or 16 so need to act fast if you want to use them. Another that I like but that has had mixed reviews is Gilbert Wild, http://www.gilberthwild.com/PEONIES/products/30/ They also are having a sale, think the code is $cash$ to save $20 off of a $100 order. Not 100% sure on the code but it's in the Gilbert Wild Sale string that I updated a couple of days ago. They also ship free if your order is over $75 so you can get $100 dollars worth of peonies for $80 with free shipping, pretty good deal. They still have some pretty peonies, as does Hidden Springs. GW doesn't do Itohs, don't think I saw any left at HS either, Brooks Gardens and Swenson Gardens do though. I know one of them did a 20% off sale late fall last year, don't remember which. Think Adelmans did, too. One I used this year and was impressed with is Tree Peony Gardens, http://www.treepeonygarden.com/english/products/products-eng.htm Their roots were very reasonably priced and arrived healthy and larger and more developed than I expected. You do have to mail in a check to them rather than order online, a bit uncomfortable for a retailor you're not familiar with, huh? Solaris Farms had nice roots of all 3 types, http://www.solarisfarms.com/Peony%20Woody%20Hybrid%20Catalog.html Sorry this has gotten so long, as you can tell I'm enthusiastic about peonies! Take a look at what's out there and come back and ask questions if you have any. The members of this forum are very knowledgeable and are willing to share their wisdom. Good luck and let us know what you decided to plant! Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden Springs Peonies Last Chance Sale

I doubt that the decline is from the winter freezes if your stem is looking that good. It is more likely due to soil compaction when it gets smaller and smaller. The best solution is to dig out the soil around your plant and replace that with more loose soil with gypsum or lime to prevent further compaction. The roots need ample aeration and oxygen to continue growing.