8/00-29 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact: Christine Kelleher, 800-232-9557, Ext. 512 or Gary Doerr, 916-716-1889 Jane Cigard is a freelance garden writer living in the Kansas City area. Formerly the editor of a landscape industry trade magazine, her articles have appeared in the Kansas City Star, Kansas City Magazine and other local and regional publications. Feel free to use this release in its entirety or in part, with or without the author's byline.

Few gardeners in the Heartland prize mid- to late summer for peak bloom in their gardens. But, you don't have to limit your high summer garden activities to harvesting tomatoes and plucking weeds. Although the so-called "dog days" aren't known for their garden hospitality, there are tough hardy perennials that will not only stand up to harsh summer conditions, but thrive in them.

Many of the prairie plants and their cultivated kin, including Grasses, Coneflowers, Black-Eyed Susans and other stalwart natives, reach their peak at this time of year. And as a bonus, many of these perennials are also butterfly favorites.

For midsummer floral punch, Daylilies are a prime contender. Although they like a moist soil, these adaptable perennials are drought tolerant once established and will perform reliably even under less-than-optimal conditions. The new Lovely Lady series of Daylilies from Blooms of Bressingham offers plenty of variety from which to choose. These Daylily varieties have been selected for their bloom color, extended bloom period, number of blooms and heat tolerance, and all are top performers in the All-American Daylily Selection Council's trials.

The large-flowered types include 'Lady Jackie,' with mulberry to mauve-colored blooms; 'Lady Scarlet,' a stunning red with yellow throat; 'Lady Lucille,' with intense orange blooms with yellow-gold midribs, and "Lady Emily' with lavender ruffled petals tinged with white. Many of the Lovely Lady Daylilies are good repeat bloomers, providing an extra long flowering season.

The smaller-flowered varieties such as 'Miss Amelia,' with pale yellow, fragrant flowers, and 'Miss Tinkerbell,' with peachy pink to coral blooms, are excellent in mass plantings or combined with other perennials in flower borders.

Other good choices for the hot summer garden include Heliopsis 'Bressingham Doubloon,' a semi-double flowered False Sunflower and its cousin, Heliopsis 'Loraine Sunshine,' which has golden-yellow daisy flowers from July until frost on plants with distinctive variegated green and white foliage. Heliopsis likes full fun and will take the heat, but it needs adequate moisture.

These plants combine well with many of the Ornamental Grasses, Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm,' Echinacea 'Magnus,' Salvia 'May Night' and Russian Sage. Gardeners often want to know if a plant is hardy and will survive the winters in our area. In the frequently hot and humid Midwest, gardeners should also select plants for their summer hardiness.

In this area, the trial sites for Blooms of Bressingham North America are located at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Mo., and the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Plan a visit and look for the Blooms varieties in the perennial gardens.

See for yourself which plants are really thriving in the heat and take home some new ideas for flower combinations that will light up your late summer garden.