Just to jump in and clarify a bit: Joe-Pye Weed and asters are different creatures entirely. Joe-Pye is eupatorium (and the chocolate, in my garden anyway, is just beautiful -- hasn't become remotely invasive yet, though I gather it self-seeds for many). You can't beat the gorgeous foliage color! Asters come in lots of varieties but I don't know of any that are considered invasive -- mine certainly aren't, though I have mostly low-growing varieties. I got most of them from the NW Conservation District, which doesn't sell non-natives or invasives (though they may be defining "invasive" slightly differently than you are, I suspect :) The CT Ag Station recommends a newish cultivar, "September Ruby," which gets tall (3 to 4 foot flower stems) -- I don't have it, but lots of people online seem to love it. Might be worth checking out? Don't blame you for deep-sixing the Montauks. I had them at my old house and they ALWAYS flopped (as does my Helianthus Lemon Queen -- I don't recommend that unless you have a fence or backdrop of some sort to hold it up, since it gets extremely tall! ) Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: info on asters from Cornell

I have both Blue Bird and Blue Billow. They were both purchased last year and I did winter protect them. The Blue Bird is also against the house, so I assume a bit warmer. I'm not sure if I am in Zone 5 or 6 - everything I see online seems to have me in Zone 6 though idabean has us a Zone 5A and she's in the same town. When I unwrapped my Blue Bird in the spring, there were just some dead looking twigs. I thought it was a goner. But slowly it got leaves from the base and then developed a ton of buds also from the base. The twigs never revived. I had beautiful lacecaps this year and the sterile flowers were mostly white, with the centers bluish. I have acidic soil (pH about 6.0) but a number of my other new hydrangeas (Purple Tiers and Twist and Shout) were very pinkish. I thought it was because they were along the foundation of the house or along a fairly new wall. But we checked the pH and it's about 6. So I'm thinking it's from the soil from the pot. So maybe your "Blue Lace" is a Blue Bird that was grown in more neutral or basic soil? My Blue Billow was definitely all blue. I'm planning to post some pictures of my new collection of hydrangeas (I'm totally smitten) but have to finish weeding and mulching (really late) and get over the new computer (MacBook Pro)/picture posting anxiety.

hey grow power, i am interested in a trade of strawberries, thornless bberry for curly willow and hydrangea... although i have been living in the klamath siskiyou mountains, way way way up north almost to oregon in a very remote part of nor cal....i am currently on the south shore of massachusetts. i have all this heavy family stuff i am dealing with...and my dad's house, who is now gone sadly =( i just went to message you and found your messaging settings arent enabled...so i can't message. i wish houzz would just enable this by default, but you have to go into your account settings to be able to receive private messages on this site. you go to this ---> go to ADVANCED SETTINGS (<<--click here) and scrolling down to the bottom of the page there is a section called privacy settings...change that drop down box to ALLOW ANYONE TO MESSAGE ME well here since i can copy and paste this, here's the basic instructions for setting up your profile... select the option of “ALLOW ANYONE TO MESSAGE ME” under "Who can message me". click on "UPDATE" when you are done to store your settings. ========================================== To add your growing zone: Go to ADVANCED SETTINGS Look for - Climate Zone for Garden Forums - and fill in your zone. ====================================================== To make/edit your wants list: Go to ADVANCED SETTINGS -Then click on the box under “My GardenWeb Trading List” -Type/paste in your seeds in a vertical list (much easier to read than a horizontal list with commas between). ============================================================= To access these settings: if you are currently logged in, click on your name anywhere on the site, or the “Your Houzz” button at the top right of any page. Then go to ===> Edit Profile ===> Advanced Settings (located under “Account”on the left) also, this page can be accessed by going directly to the web address - https://www.houzz.com/settingsAdvanced this is the page where you can edit your preferences, allow people to email you, list your growing zone, and fill in your have/ want lists. anywho feel free to message me when you get that set up.

I am interested in arranging a few plant or seed trades. since houzz is hiding trade lists (??!??) here is my full list --->click on link ---> https://www.houzz.com/gardenWebTradeList/user/leilahamaya a shorter version - have : curly willow - Salix matsudana - cuttings, and many rooted out Montauk Daisy - Nipponicum - larger, developed, rooted blazing star - liatris, plants Lace Cap Hydrangea - 'victorian lace' - layered rooted cuttings Lace Cap Hydrangea - "red" - more of fucshia/dark pink color- rooted cuttings Cranesbill - hardy Geranium - rooted LOTS sugar maple, young seedlings Mimosa - albizia - persian silk tree - young seedlings Tawny Daylily (common orange wild type, edible) wild Violets - sweet violets (common, purple) wild violets - lance leaf violet (native, white flowered) Yellow edge Hosta bulbs Want : Fig, any edible - trees, cuttings perennial edibles, zone 7 (or even 6) fruit, nut, berry -seeds or plants Clematis - most any Lilac Jasmine - perfume and floral types passionflowers - any but maypop or refer to my complete list for other haves and wants. ---> https://www.houzz.com/gardenWebTradeList/user/leilahamaya please post a link to your list, as i cannot seem to find anyones list easily right now. or private message me for trades.