New subscriber

Greetings,

I am a new subscriber to the list. I live  in Western Montgomery Co. PA zone 
6, and started my own landscaping from scratch  4 years ago on a 1/3 acre lot 
in a new subdivision. My goal is to have large perennial gardens with mostly 
sunny exposures, and also a shade garden  on the Northwestern side of my 
house when the trees grow large enough to provide the necessary shade. My 
ground is heavy red clay and shale (could start my own earthenware pottery 
with the clay). It was formerly farm land and am looking for suggestions on 
plants that grow well in this environment and also how to amend the soil. 
I've been adding peat moss to the ground with good results. 

The summers tend to be hot and humid with dry spells, so I need plants that 
will tolerate droughts, we had a drought last year that was pretty severe. So 
far the plants doing well are coreopsis Moonbean and Zagreb, Sedum Autumn Joy 
and other sedums,  daylillies, Russian sage, purple coneflower, santolina, 
lavender, gaillardia, pink evening primrose, lambs ears, hollyhocks, siberian 
iris, plumbago, columbine, snow in summer, veronica's, creeping thyme's, 
caryopteris, Clara Curtis chrysanthemums (althought the flowers are not as 
pretty as their picture showed), stokesia, dianthus, and rudbeckia goldstrum 
if I give it enough water.  

 I haven't had good luck with baptisia, delphiniums, foxglove ( the dwarf 
yellow foxglove survived), aster frikarti "Monch" (which I really love), 
lavatera, purple homestead verbena, scabiosa "Blue Butterfly", artemesia 
"Silver Brocade" and shasta daisies.

But I do have great luck with growing weeds.

I am always on the lookout for new and different plants and would especially 
like to have more varieties of daylillies, especially daylillies that bloom 
in the late season. And also plants that flower in August and September. I 
spend way too much money on perennials, but everyone has to have an 
addiction, and my addiction to gardening is beneficial not harmful.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Christine Schultz
Montgomery Co. PA
Zone 6

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