Great and helpful info, NHBabs. I have more questions to come later. For now, this is one of the picks that inspires. I think this is a heather/heath in the photo, but I could be wrong. It's in the Winter 2017 issue of Garden Design, which I do not own. i cannot find information for the plants in the photo on their website.

As Babs notes, winter heaths (Erica carnea and hybrids) are not as cold tolerant as heathers (Calluna vulgaris).....usually only to zone 6 but a few to zone 5. And they DO bloom in winter so if you get a decent snow pack, you may not see a lot of flowering :-)

Because the photo above is obviously taken in winter, that would be some sort of Erica in the picture, underplanting what appear to be birch trees and with a mass of shrub dogwood (Cornus stolonifera 'Winter Sun' or 'Winter Flame') behind. This is a pretty common winter garden scene in my area that will brighten up the grayest of winter days (and we have plenty!!), but then we seldom see much of anything in the way of snowfall.

IME, the winter heaths bloom here, but are on hold until they emerge from the snow, so later than in areas with less snow. So since you have mentioned that you get less snow than this part of NH, you would have a reasonable likelihood of getting the winter heath flowers earlier than I did.

NHBabs, how much winter damage comes from winds? We get the advantage of southerly summer breezes off the ocean on our south-facing house, but have the protection from northerly winter winds because of the land and trees behind us. April and May are the Switching Seasons, meaning the winds are switching from North to South and we can get some good gales off the water during those months. They have the strength of a winter wind, but we get a direct hit. If I need to consider damage or dryness from winds let me know.

So heathers bloom in summer and heaths in late winter, but heathers look good all winter. Are they the kind of plant that can be an “intermingler” with others, or do they need their space to spread out? In photos they look like they behave almost like a low juniper, meaning they claim the ground on which they are planted, but you also said that they can be overwhelmed by other perennials. Ideally I’d love for them to intermingle so the summer plants can shine in summer, and they can shine in winter when the herbaceous things retreat. Is that possible?

I am determined to have some of the bush dogwoods, but it has been a mentally exhausting marathon to figure out where in the world I can put them. I have to find a place that is both ideal for their growth and in clear visual view in winter. At first I was all about only the fiery red ones, but that photo above sure makes those yellow shades look amazing! I love how the yellow in the dogwood picks up the yellow in the conifers, and the Ericas add a stunning punch of color.

My husband gets really blue with our short winter days. All the winter color we can get is helpful. Ericas in April would be welcome.

All in all, I’m surprised that I don’t hear more about heathers/heaths in New England. I should find out if the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden grows any.

My heathers haven't shown issues with the wind whipping up our river valley, but I imagine my wind doesn't compare to your winds off the ocean. I don't think that April and May winds would be an issue since they are ocean cold, but not really frigid. Heaths and heathers do really well on Cape Cod which has a good amount of wind, so I can't imagine that they need much wind shelter, but I haven't ever lived somewhere with really heavy winds.

I keep saying that I will go to the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden when I go to Maine, but haven't yet managed to get there.

The dogwoods in the photo are nice in that they shade from yellow at the base to red-orange at the tips and have really nice yellow fall foliage color. I've been looking for a spot to put a row of them where they will be visible in winter. One of the most striking bark plantings I've seen had a row of creamy-barked aspens behind a row of red twigged dogwoods. As far as ideal planting spots, any spot with at least a half day of sun is fine. IME they aren't fussy about soil or about moisture, being tolerant of both well-drained and swampy. If you have a swampy spot and you have voles, I would go for the swamp where the voles aren't since they seem to find dogwood roots of all types a favorite. So far they have killed a variegated red twig dogwood, more than one pagoda dogwood, and have damaged several others. I have stopped buying dogwoods until I figure out a wet enough spot for some red-twigged dogwoods so protect them from the voles.