These are my 10 best looking plants right now, based on their performance in this awful weather we are having. No rain and high temps over 100 are hard on most plants, but these seem to be doing very well. They aren't in any particular order.

Here are my Top 10 Plants in this terrible Summer weather!
1.) Helenium 'Mardi Gras'
2.) Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights'
3.) Delosperma dyeri
4.) Delosperma 'Lavender Ice'
5.) Coreopsis 'Creme Brulee'
6.) Echinacea 'Burgundy Fireworks'
7.) Helenium 'Tiny Dancer'
8.) Yucca 'Color Guard'
9.) Delosperma cooperi
10.) Agastache hybrida 'Acapulco Trio'

What are your top 10 plants right now?

Most of my garden is newly planted this year, but these are among the few that are settling in well:

1. True lilies
2. Crambe maritima
3. Allium 'Summer Beauty'
4. Phuopsis stylosa
5. Allium nutans 'Pam Harper'
6. Veronicastrum 'Fascination'
7. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'
8. Allium sphaerocephalon
9. Hemerocallis 'Notify Ground Crew'
10. Hemerocallis citrina 'Yao Ming'

My spring planted hardy geraniums, alchemilla, penstemons, perovskia, tall phlox, agastaches and many others are really struggling with the heat and drought in spite of regular hose waterings.

I have a small plant of Helenium 'Mardi Gras' just starting to flower now, but I find that I need to water it almost daily or it goes into a frightening death wilt.

I think it's normal for them to need more water the first season. I've had my Helenium for 3 years now. They are showing out this year!

Rudbeckias
Coreopsis
Echinacea
Monarda
Agastache
Delosperma
H.Grand Tiara
Miscanthus
Golden Sedge
Variegated Lily Turf

Susan - do you have Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights'? I can't get over how long it blooms. The bloom stalk was done at the top and the side of it put out blooms too. I think it's my favorite new plant!

WOW!!
I really like that, I put it in my wish list album, I saved a picture so I would remember why I wanted it. How big do they get?? I saw 24-36 inches when I looked it up. Wish it was not so big I would have ten.

I would say mine is about 18 inches tall including that stalk, but this is its first year. They put up offsets which you can break off and root to make more or let it become fuller. It's smaller than the other Hesperaloe plants. I am putting mine with some yellow Coreopsis and Helenium. Note: Monrovia says it only gets 2 feet tall and wide. I think that is the correct size. I don't think it will ever get 36 inches. It's a smaller version with redder blooms. It's a hummingbird magnet too!

Here's the link to Monrovia's info...
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-...

My browser cannot connect to that.

Anyway, I will find somewhere to put one by next year. Let me clean up the mess I got. I am going to try and take some time off in the fall. I want to finish up the butterfly garden and get some river rocks for a couple of raised beds. I have 15 shrubs I need to plant, and I also have a bunch of Iris and Day lilies that will be shipped in fall.

Oh, another full sun plant that I have is the best one actually, it is called 'Cup Plant' (Silphium perfoliatum) It looks a little like a giant clump of sunflowers like Maximillion, but it does not have to be watered everyday, I watered mine about once every two weeks. It has the yellow flowers, nectar, seeds, and pollen, also the leaves fuse together to form a cup that holds water when it rains. Here is a picture.

Nice! You can always use more plants for the pot ghetto. LOL. By the way...Here's a photo of the entire Hesperaloe 'Brakelights.' Please ignore the other crap around it. I have neglected this section. LOL. Note that it also puts up new flowers along the stem after the ones at the top are about done.

Lets just say my four inch ghetto pots have been promoted to 8 inch. They take up more room, go figure!!

I am just about finished planting all of the pot ghetto plants!!!! Today I planted two more Kniphofia and have 3 to go, along with some rooted cuttings and 22 Asclepias tuberosa 'Gay Butterflies'. LOL.

BTW, I saw some Allium that look like Kniphofia, well they do to me. Sphaerocephalum Allium
What do you think?? They get 28" tall.

I have something just like that. The package said 'Drumstick.' I'm not sure that's the same thing or not. They look good with Echinaceas! I think I want them all. LOL.

That's what I'm talking about, I was going to get some but my list is kinda pricey so I had to drop some things. I am getting the tall blue globe ones, the kind that get four feet tall. Woo Hoo!!

Our winter was so warm that my Alliums didn't look so hot this year. Maybe next year they will bloom more. I just want tons of blooms all summer. If it blooms a lot and is easy to propagate, I want it. LOL.

I know, right?

I'd have to say
Echinacea
Monarda
Liatris
Tall Phlox
Low growing Sedum
True Lilies
Drumstick Allium
Blue Butterfly Delphinium

I don't even think I can get to 10 in this horrible weather
even my Sedum 'Fulda Glow' is looking bad

Echi 'Amazing Dream'
Mary Todd DL
Coreopsis 'Comic Evolution'
Weigela 'Ghost'
Sedum 'Angelina'
Very surprisingly Heuchera 'Midnight Rose is doing great

really sad can't think of any more
We need some serious rain!

Boy, so do we Jen. We've had about 1/2" since May and temps in the 90's. NOT good!

We had so much rain early spring and now nothing, we need 5 straight days of rain....grass is crunchy, I watered everything really deeply yesterday, just waiting on news of watering restrictions, 1 county already has