I'm with Moroseaz ! I live in Bullhead City Arizona, where the bumper stickers say "Bullhead City - wind chill factor: 105F" ! I use shade cloth for my "babies", as well as planting them in half-barrels (to be able to move them around); they currently "live" in light shade...temps are now 100 plus...dry, dry heat(single digit humidity)until late summer monsoon season:temps will still be around 100, but with NASTY humidity ! but very little actual rain drops ! When and if it DOES "rain", I run out to the street and play "connect the dots" and do a happy dance ! In winter (which lasts about 2-4 weeks, like Moroseaz said)they are moved to full sun areas... I have chosen to switch, not fight the climate ! It's taken me nearly twenty years to reach this stage, but I'm finally crying "uncle" ! Much less stressful in my old age ! My ammunition is now limited to shade cloths, light shade, lots of mulch, epsom salts, society garlic, water, water, water, and then MORE water ! oh yeah, and a wide brimmed straw hat (for me) ! One more thing, I water all my plants in early evening (still light out)which is much more comfortable for us all ! I don't worry about wet leaves, they're dry before I can turn off the water spigot ! Overnight lows around 70F (sweater weather like Moroseaz said !)

The shield fern sounds like an excellent choice for a shady spot . If you read this link you will see why : http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FP189 Here is just a small sampling : This finely divided, dark green fern has a delicate appearance but is actually a very hardy survivor . Its slowly spreading habit and ability to tolerate neglect make it an ideal candidate for use as a groundcover. This underutilized plant is one of the few ferns to have seasonal color value; the fronds appearing reddish when young. It combines well with Mahonia fortuneii and Holly Fern for a mixed planting in a shady location. It will grow to about 18 inches tall with single plants spreading no more than 24 inches.

DJR, the flowers were pretty small as I recall, and they didn't have much of a green calyx. (I think that's what you call that green part at the base of the flower.) They seemed almost to grow directly from the stem. I followed your links, but it's hard for me to tell if one of those is my salvia or not. The color is certainly right but it was the form that was most striking and unusual to me. Perhaps that could be because I planted it on its own and not massed together with others like it? I'll see if I can't find out more about the 2 varieties you suggested, though. Thanks!

IME at the north end of zone 5, H. arborescens such as Incrediball is fine in morning sun, but not afternoon sun and not all day sun. Here H. paniculatas are just fine in all day sun (an hour after sunrise to an hour before sunset) in a bed that rarely gets watered by anything but rain, but whether it would be in your area in zone 6, I don't know since I don't know if you are in an area similar to me like MA where they seem to do fine, or somewhere like Missouri where I am less confident that they would be OK in all day sun. Look around your area for H. paniculatas such as Bobo, Little Lime, Little Quickfire, etc., which would somewhat similar in height to Incrediball, but with somewhat different shape to the heads of bloom.