I'm probably the last person who should talk to you about drought tolerant plants since I garden in heavy moisture retaining clay and seldom water any perennials. Also you don't mention what kind of soil or other growing conditions (such as sun/shade) that individual plants receive and this can make a huge difference. FWIS, here are some notes on your list based on my experiences. Viburnums tolerate damp clay soils well and are planted in full sun in my yard. After establishment they seldom need watering. Hydrangeas like it in my yard in somewhat drier areas in part shade. Roses like rich soil and sun, but seem fairly tolerant of dry conditions, especially the shrub ones I grow (no hybrid teas in my garden). Joe Pye grows much taller and lusher in wet areas, often seen around the outside edges of ponds and such. Grows shorter and more manageable nearer my house (in drier soil) but would probably need watering in dry spells. Clematis and hostas grow best with a nice steady water supply. Depends a lot on sun/shade amounts and the individual variety. Hosta Guacamole grows in hot afternoon sun on the west side of the house for me but others would fry in those conditions. Super vigorous clems like tanguticas and Sweet Autumn do fine in poor soil and little water for me, but most like really rich soil and some fertilizer along with adequate watering. Clethra and Sambucus (a cutleaf all green variety) shrubs grow in my wet garden in full sun. Clethra is often listed as a shade/part shade plant for damp soils, but does great in full sun in my wet soil and zone 5 sun. Sambucus is tolerant of most soils but I have no idea how sensitive to water needs your gold and black ones are. Mine grows like a weed in quite wet conditions. Astilbes like quite a bit of water. I grow some in part shade to heavy shade with drier soil & some in full sun in my wet garden. Primulas vary by type. I can easily grow the water loving candelabra types, like japonica or the P. x bulleesiana & P. pubescens, but P. vulgaris wastes away for me in my wet soil, can't keep it at all. Can't grow asclepsias at all. Hate my yard. Lilies are mostly planted in the top garden near the house in as loose a loamy soil as I can give them. Don't seem to mind water during bloomtime, but like it dry over winter. Asters love my soil and seed around in the duff everywhere. I never seem to get any mildew on any, so maybe the extra wet soil makes a difference there. The same with phlox. I plant them in drier areas but in lightly amended clay soil which retains moisture well and seldom have mildew. Ferns depend on type. Gray ones like Japanese Painted fern seem to like it on the dry side, while my Cinnamon Fern and Ostrich ferns like it really wet. I did have some burning on my Cinnamon ferns planted on the east side of the house in part shade this summer when we had no rain for five weeks. Ostrich ferns live in my wet garden & had no problem. Another favorite fern, Lady fern, is in shadier and somewhat drier conditions in my yard & appears to be in the middle somewhere in water needs. Siberian Iris, although it likes water much more than bearded iris and can tolerate more shade, actually prefers the slighly drier spots in my garden. I had a bit of trouble finding just the right spot for them. I think I was giving them too poor a soil. They are currently going gangbusters in a RAISED full sun area with rich garden soil and getting some extra watering from overhead lawn sprinklers. So go figure... I have three 10 plus year old hollies (Ilex) doing well in a raised, dry, full shade bed almost under the eaves. Ilex glabra (deciduous) likes the wet shrub area of the yard. Virginia Bluebells are a great spring ephemeral for my type garden. Easily tolerates the wettish soil (not standing water) around my wet garden. I grow it in full sun, but it also likes woodland shade. Japanese Maple (the cutleaf type) is somewhat iffy for my garden, having died out even in a raised bed here. Had a really large beautiful one in another house in an in-close suburb here that did beautiful. I'd said moderate only moisture. Lady's Mantle loves my garden, in sun, shade, wet, dry, droughts, floods, everything. Also seeds everywhere. No problem at all in heavy soils that hold water, but have no idea how it holds up to drought in dry soils. Lobelia, again, depends on the type. Red cardinal flower no variety name planted bare-root from a nature group, loves my wet garden, however a named nursery variety rotted out. Queen Victoria, a dark foliaged variety, lived quite nicely on the top of the hill above the wet garden in quite a dry spot, but again in amended clay soil. Various bedding lobelias (annuals) have also had mixed results in the ground here. Have not yet tried blue lobelia (syphlitica), supposed to like dampish soils. Pulmonarias seem to like somewhat dryish soils in part shade, but I did have some small scorching on Excalibur, an almost all silver variety this year during the drought. Shasta daisies only grow in my yard in very dry areas near the house. Mums also like it dry, especially over winter, but are not as fussy for me as is shasta daisy. Becky has done well for me, as has a small dwarf variety, both growing and spreading well. Alaska won't even return one year for me. Hope this helps. Leslie

Ladylotus, Tiger Babies and Red Velvet are stunning! I planted both this fall, Tiger Babies from The Lily Garden and Red Velvet from B-D. I can't wait to see them bloom next season. I know Red Velvet is supposed to be scentless, but how is the fragrance on Tiger Babies? The Lily Garden states that it is "lightly fragrant". Invasion and Robina are Dutch OTs that were mentioned by posters on the Lily Forum at DG as being exceptionally fragrant so I just had to try them! :-) I found Invasion at The Lily Pad (they sent beautiful bulbs, too!) and Robina at B-D. B-D also has a pure white OT that looks much like Casa Blanca called Hacienda. It is supposed to be fragrant, too. I am so tempted to order it but I must resist... I have never grown Trumpet lilies before so I am also curious to see how they perform. I live within a mile of Lake Michigan so my temperatures are somewhat moderated compared to even a few miles west. We seldom dip below 0 F and usually not for very long (windchill is another story however), and snow cover has been somewhat reliable for the past several years. The best part of my sandy soil is that it was very easy to plant all of my bulbs deeply, and the bulbs themselves should be able to adjust their own depths in such friable soil. I am worried about the alkaline part, but was reading that most Trumpet hybrids and most hybrids with Lilium henryi and Lilium lankongense blood are somewhat lime tolerant. Have you found this to be true? Thank you again for your beautiful photos!

Hmmmm... I didn't know Mr. Ed included freebies in the species orders. And I didn't order this year though it was tempting. I have seed for probably half the lilies on the list so I'll go that rout. In the meantime... from Scheepers I ordered OT Satisfaction and L. sp. album (to mix with the rubrums, of course). I've added to my order from Buggycrazy: a couple of pardalinums (lol), Green Goddess, Late Pink oriental, and Yellow Henryi (citranum). From the regional (PNWLS) I've ordered Cathedral Windows, White Henryi (original clone), and oriental Summer's End, which I already have but want more. It's my best oriental. From McRae's contributions I ordered several tetraploid trumpets and a couple of the asiatic mix, which are actually seedlings from the hybridization program of Dr. Chris North (he hybridized for downfacing lilies, frequently using L. lankongense, then naming them after his family members). My crystal ball tells me I will be doing a lot of digging in the near future!

Fishlady, You know I emailed Judith Freeman with a question and she emialed me back. Seems very nice! Hostaholic, I like symmetry in curl of the petals and I find both Leslie Woodriff and Dunyazade to look like a bad hair day compared to Scherhezade and Black Beauty. I took pics from the top view- see what I mean? MG- This saddens me too. I would love to trade, but not illegally. Nice website! Information and good pics:) linnea, You might be nearby, and you are welcome to visit/swap :) I'm in NW IL. Not too far from the Mississippi River. You might not like me that much, I'm the one who told you it is humanly possible to yank a lily right out of the ground if you don't like it. ;-0 Karen