I ordered three agastache cana from Bluestone Perennials a few years ago and they got huge over summer and bloomed their heads off. I was so impressed. BUT - They didn't return after winter. : ( That's one that tolerates our hot dry summers just fine but needs good drainage so they won't rot over winter. Last year I grew agastache 'Apricot Sprite' from seed and only had two of them return. It's not a very showy plant though. I also planted a root beer hysop (agastache rupestris) last spring and was surprised to see it return this year. The foliage smells good and it's been in bloom a long time but it's not real showy either. High Country Gardens has some agastaches that LOOK showy in their catalog that I'd like to order but I hate to spend money on plants that aren't dependable.

I think some penstemons dislike soggy winters too. My Pike's Peak Purple didn't return but Violet Dusk did.

I've had mixed luck with lantana. Sometimes they do real well and sometimes they barely grow at all over summer. I'm in zone 6 and they've never returned for me here. There's one called Miss Huff that is supposed to be pretty hardy in zone 7 that I'd like to try here to see if it will winter over. Caroline - Did you mention that you have a lantana that comes back every year?

Dianthus - I've had a couple that wintered over but have also had two or three that did not.

Someday I'm going to get ambitious and build a big raised bed for those plants that need good drainage. A lot of them are very long blooming and there are some that I'd like to have for the hummingbirds. I browse through the High Country Gardens catalog every year but never order anything.

I've never even tried delphiniums because I've hear they don't do well here. Is it for the same reason or do they dislike our hot summers?

I have grown agastache several times. It doesn't last for me, but I keep planting it. I really liked a silvery one with anise fragrance foliage. I have two now; one from seed one recent sale plant. I have grown dianthus it lasts a couple of years and dies out. I have seen clove pinks in someone else's yard that formed a mat under a tree, bloomed every spring and smelled wonderful. I haven't had such luck. I did have some in a bucket that I kept for a few years. I plant larkspur instead of delphinium. Larkspur rots too if it rains alot in the spring. I had one type of delphinium once an eyepopping blue, but it died.

I have grown them all.The lantana,I grow in pots and it likes LOTS of water.I have brought it in in the fall and cut it back real hard and it has survived til the next year in a south facing bay window.All the other things have not survived here,. even the dianthus in a raised bed.It probably wants more water than I give it.The variety may play a part.I think my neighbor has kept some.It gets so hot and dry here!Posy Pet