In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

This is my annual award show of garden plants 

My picks for the hardest working plants of 2015

Griffith Buck rose Country Dancer.  Began blooming in May and still producing beautifully, 

In June, Annabelle hydrangea covers itself in big white clusters that remain on the bush throughout the winter.

Purchased these dianthus already blooming in early May.  They look even better now at the end of summer. Never stopped blooming.  

Helenium Mardi Gras covered in blooms all through the heat of  July and August.

Geranium Rosanne blooming from early May until a hard freeze puts it to sleep for the winter.  This plant is simply too good to be true.  It will cover the ground below taller plants or scramble up roses like a vine.  The bluish color is perfect with most garden plants.  It tolerates some drought in blazing sun or partial shade.  No pests or disease. Every year I add more Rosanne plants because they are as close to perfect as a plant can get.

We expect extended bloom from our annuals but some perform above and beyond.  These tried and true plants had no pests, no disease and no slacking off in the hottest months.