well i was going to come brag on what i had to live in this hale hole but then got bogged down reading what yall said made it through.

heuchera? pulmonaria? really? i had both those pegged as sissy plants. so what kind of bad weather did you have in tenn. last summer? 90's dropping to nighttime 80's with rain every 2 weeks?

I cant believe I havn't been back since Dec.
Sheryl: to answer your question about my Lamiums .I have
White Nancy
Red Nancy ( which is pink)
Golden Anniversery ,this plant is beautiful almost yellow in spring.

I wonder if they'd breed with my weed lamiums???

Barb, seeing as you're coming from the subtropics I doubt much that you would have any idea what kind of plant isn't a sissy plant. I've lived there, you just don't know. Heck, last year you were crying about *snow*, fer cryin' out loud.... we BEG for snow!

yeah i am going to cry about snow every time.

the plants in my yard that looked like they did in the spring after the summer of 2011 were......
dwarf pomegranite
this one......flowering almond

neither appeared to have been affected at all.

what lived without any water...some did go dormant but clematis always go dormant in my yard.
all my clematis
eupatorium greggii
daylilies
iris
four oclocks
salvia greggii...........some of them did die
salvia farinacea
hollyhocks

that's all that comes to mind right now.

Oh yeah, I have one of the flowering almonds, too. I just wish they'd flower a little longer.

I suspect it takes nuclear fall-out to kill daylilies.

i had hollyhock's growing up through the gravel driveway. they really didn't miss a beat either. it's amazing to me plants that can do without water. and i agree. flowering almond blooms for too short of a time. but i do love those little flowers.

We have two of those here, and I agree that each little bloom is cute, but after that quick flowering is over ours are not all that attractive. Is it normal for them to afterward look like an upright pile of half-dead sticks?

well all i can say that here the plants stayed green throughout. . and they look like they look. no signs of drought stress at all. my plant is in texas shade so that might have helped it stay green.

Our winter just past was no less than a zone 7, I think.

My seed started Cardoon plants survived, uncovered, other than with their own leaves. We might have blooms/seeds this year.

My favorite tough plants are:

Yucca 'Color Guard'
Delosperma cooperi
Nepeta 'Walker's Low'
Penstemon 'Sweet Joanne'
Helenium 'Double Trouble'
Helenium 'Mardi Gras'
Echinacea 'Flame Thrower'

Alyssum
Rhododenron
Azealea
Siberian wallflower (toughest, not favoritest)

Thanks, Clint and Rick.

Interesting. Should try your Helenium varieties, Clint. Tried a couple of others that did not return for me.

Rick, what Alyssum variety?

The Heleniums are awesome because you can rip out individual stalks and get roots on them. I just did that and made 7 new Double Troubles and 3 new Mardi Gras. They wilt for a few days, but they perk back up and grow like crazy. Mine are getting good morning/early afternoon sun. I water them when I think about it which isn't very often.

I wintersowed a few helenium last year, and they bloomed in fall. I liked them too.



Karen

Nice colors that pick up the Coleus colors so perfectly Karen.
Pretty!!

Clint, how long have yours returned for you?

This is the third year. It's so easy to divide them. You don't even have to dig them up.

My helenium are back for year two, and quickly growing tall. They get little direct sun in that spot, only a very few hours in early morning. Does pinching them encourage them to fill out?

Karen

I just read on Bluestone Perennials that Heleniums respond to pinching like Mums do.