By far the hardiest one I grew at Seneca Hill was E. comosa 'Peace Candles' (I didn't name it - the South African breeder did - awful name). That was in a zone 5 with excellent snow cover, but I believe it has also done well for a friend in Ithaca, where the snow cover is less good. It bulks up well and blooms reliably. I've brought a bag of them here to Shrewsbury, MA ti try - am looking forward to seeing what happens. The flowers in that one are a pretty clean white with purple stamens (?). It was best sited by the road in full sun and sandy soil (also salty from the road salt, which never seemed to be a problem). In lusher conditions it overgrows, and the long, heavy flowering stems fall over. In NY I was also working with a group of purple-leaved E. pallidiflora, which has much nicer (less long and lax) leaves than E. comosa and, in the best seedlings, good pink or purplish flowers. I brought these along too, and hope that eventually something really nice and hardy will come from them. I'm also playing with some very beautiful dwarf collections of E. autumnalis. Time will tell. Ellen -- Ellen Hornig 212 Grafton St Shrewsbury MA 01545 508-925-5147 USDA zone 5B? 6?