The thermometer has relentlessly topped the hundred degree mark day after day. Rain has been scarce. Garden hoses have been used for deep, overnight irrigation once a week. Shudder to think of the water bill. No matter. When a drought and hellish temperatures are combined, there's little hope for many plants. Unless, of course, they're natives like the ones on this picture. The monardas have been laughing at the scorching sun. The amsonias are fresh green and breezy under the hammer of Vulcan and the phlox, albeit a hybrid, is still a native, cooling the garden with her snow-white pom-poms. All this accompanied by a multitude of bees, butterflies, goldfinches, hummingbirds. Natives rule!
