Hiya, jeanne, you most generous person you! Here are my *preferences*, but I will gratefully accept *anything* of your excellent collection that you would choose to share! Solidago Fireworks Campanulastrum americana Eryngium planum Thymophlla Dianthus Bath's Pink Euphorbia marginata Iris Ceaser's Brother Iris tectorum Malva Bibor Felho Rudbeckia fulgida var. sulvantii Verbascum phoenicium Rosetta Penstemon smallii Violet Dusk Ipomoea hederacea Looking very much forward to growing and sharing as much as possible! God Bless and a happy and prosperous new year! PLMK!

I got a Clethra alnifolia (wild type, not a cultivar) in March. It has so far done very well in the 5 gallon pot I put it in. I'll be planting it in the ground whenever it finally starts getting cooler here (so that I won't have to water every day). It covered itself in hundreds of tiny blooms in June/July, but didn't start opening any until August. I think that's later than typical for Clethra, though. When it did finally start opening, I liked that only a few of the "spikes" of flowers (can't think of the proper name for that flowering arrangement off the top of my head...botany was two years ago!) at a time. Since it didn't open all of them at once, it's still blooming now and still has some yet unopened buds to keep it blooming for a while longer. It's got a really lovely scent that's not overpowering. The only thing I dislike about it is that it's got a very scrawny habit...but that very well could be because it's been grown in a pot since it was a seedling. I think the Eleagnus the previous owners of this house planted next to the steps is going to meet an untimely demise so that the Clethra can take its place and next year I'll be able to smell it from the front porch when it blooms. I've been wanting an excuse to kill that Eleagnus, but I've been focusing most of my energy so far on trying to kill all the Jap. honeysuckle in my yard since it's got berries and the Eleagnus doesn't. Anyway, that's been my short experience with Clethra alnifolia...not sure how it would fare in your neck of the woods but it's been a very low-care, no muss no fuss kind of plant for me so far. It does not seem to be bothered by dry spells of two or three weeks, and I haven't seen any signs of disease or stress. As far as wildlife value, one reason I wanted it was because the Georgia Wildlife Federation says, "Wildlife Benefits: Flowers provide nectar to bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Seeds are eaten by a variety of birds and small mammals." Still waiting to see seeds and see what kind of "variety" of animals will visit.

Maybe Eupatorium serotinum, Late Boneset? It looks the closest to me. Eupatorium linearifolium looks close to.

I'd love to see your list of obscure NA plants just to see how difficult they would be to source. The Cowpen Daisy, Verbesina enceliouloides, how did they do for you? They are native to our southwest, and scattered seeds germinate very late here, when the temperatures are higher. By then everything else is far ahead of them and shading them out. And a very small percentage return from seed. Im sure I scattered well over a thousand seeds and only 2 vollunteers showed up. Im sure they are probably weedy down in Oklahoma and Texas. The larger perennial Verbesina virginica and alternifolia are the opposite. They germinate early, and for every hundred seeds they drop, it seems like a hundred thousand vollunteers show up. They can reach a meter tall, and bloom in their first year from seed, and they will continue to get taller each year. My Verbesina virginica is about 9 ft. tall this year. It would make the prefect barrier for your personal gardening space. It stands very formidable, staunch and erect. They are very weedy for me here, so it bothers me to deadhead them and deny the birds their treats, but it takes far too much time and effort to dig out all the numerous villunteers. The goldfinches have gotten greedy and are purposely destroying many of the flower buds on my Silphium, so they can harvest fewer, but plumper seeds. They are creating an eyesore. There are a ton of Silphium just down the street at a local preserve, where they can go eat. Location does matter. There are several other Verbesina species here in the states, and there may be some similar western species that prefer a dryer evironment. One unusual trait many of them have is they can have alternate or opposite foliage. I'm growing a Verbesina aternifolia plant that has opposite foliage. You have to key it out by looking at the involucre bracts. I've never heard of some of those species you mentioned, I'll have to look them up. I also grow the Bush's Poppy Mallow, Callirhoe bushii. I do like the fact that I can see the flowers much easier than those of C. involucrata. Mine is becoming weedy, and it must shoot ballistic seeds in the Herb Robert style, because the vollunteers are quite a distance from the parent plants. Liatris pycnostachya, this species really came to my attention a couple months ago, when I saw it growing in a restored prairie. It seemed like the surrounding tall grasses really helped make them pop. I just bought 2 plants at a pop-up sale, and I have 5 bareroot plants ordered. I plan on surrounding mine with Little Bluestem grass. The grass also makes them still look great after they finish blooming, because they are an architectural element within the grass, and they harmonize together in their movements. Verbesina virginica, Frostweed. I love the odd, missing petal look. The flowers are very soothing to behold. Not a great picture.