Faye, are you growing coleus in containers, or in the ground. I grew 'Red Volcano' coleus from seed. Planted in the ground in partial shade they have not thrived without oceans of water. (I think Coleus do not like me). Alternanthera is a better choice for me.

Last night my purple datura finally bloomed. Daturas will persist in drought, but they tend to have 'critters' when it's dry.

Nell

I agree with those you mentioned plus:

Canna
Elephant Ears (but they do like moisture)
Hydrangea
Roses
Heliotrope
Mallow
Dahlia
Petunia
Milkweed
Clematis
Gardenia
Butterfly Bush
Rosemary
Crepe Myrtle
Zinnia (though you got to watch the powdery mildew on these)

Nell,

My coleus are in pots in the shade. I have not tried them in the ground.

I am not familar with Alternanthera. Is this an annual? I looked it up on the web and it is very attractive. I will have to put it on my list.

Still looking good in my garden (knock on wood!):

Plumbago
Sky Flower (Duranta repens)
Turk's Cap
Confederate Jasmine
various Salvias (except the 'Black & Blue' which looks ratty)
Texas Sage
Autumn Joy Sedum
Mexican Firespike
Texas Aster
Katie Ruellia

Alternanthera is used in many places as an annual. My mentor, Miss Billie, always managed to save over some cuttings and used to mutter about the local florist who would come to her for rooted cuttings in early summer. Miss Billie: "...and they have a greenhouse!" I experimented with rooted cuttings in a sunny window yearly until I discovered that well mulched alternanthera in a well drained bed will survive, at least the red does. It doesn't look like muchin April, but by July it is gorgeous again. Or, you can just buy a couple pots in late spring and keep dividing, which is what I did this year to start the chartreuse. I haven't tried the purple. Yet.

Hanging in like the troopers they are...

Pentas (probably my favorite annual)

Celosia (Cocks Comb)

Mandavilla Vine

Here is a link that might be useful: Vikki's Troopers

Salvia, Salvia, Salvia. I live in hot and humid coastal North Carolina and garden in sandy soil. These sages do well for me. They provide color and the hummingbirds and bees love them.

S. microphylla
S. leucantha
S. greggii
S. guaranitica
S. uliginosa
S. elegans
S. pitcheri
S. lyrata

In Chapel Hill, NC:

Lantana 'Miss Huff'
all buddleia
salvia 'Navajo Red'
salvia uliginosa (more moisture than others)
nepeta
herbs - thyme, rosemary, sage, basil
vitex
perennial creeping heliotrope
sedum
creeping jenny
canna
elephant ears (on a drip hose 1x week)
lavender (Spanish, Provence and Munstead)
lambs ears
coreopsis (see other thread about overwintering concerns)
dianthus
heuchera (on a drip hose 1x week, partial shade)
jasmine
akebia
crossvine

My cannas are doing very well. The lantana is pretty good, too, but it is slowing down a little.

Last year I went by my favorite "country nursery" (now closed...he retired - WAH!) and the owner had a tank of Round Up ready to spray all the seedlings coming up around his display tables. He said, "You want some of this stuff? Here!" And he pulled up an armload of plants - mostly amaranth but also some salvias. Well, I brought them home (they were free!) and planted them. And then I yanked them out when the guy finally got around to drilling our well and moved them to my hydrangea bed - which was pretty empty at the time. Well. They have come back with a vengeance! I have more amaranth than I can say grace over. And it evidently doesn't care how hot it gets, or how dry, or how humid.

I hope I can find the hydrangea again someday.

Oh, and my celosia is doing well, too. Ditto zinnias and agastache. And oddly - coleus! Dh has got to be watering those a lot.

My el ears can not take this drought. They are SAD.

Spirea "ogon" and "golden elf"
Cup Plant: Silphium perfoliatum
Erigeron karvinskianus: santa barbara daisy
Society garlic
annual vinca
vining petunias
annual helenium (a native)
persicaria
abelia: shrubby and a variegated groundcover type
kalimeris
Cannas that adapt to dry land. The moisture loving cannas pooped out a long time ago!
Black Eyed Susans (this is the sweet kind, the rest are over with now)

GGG

These plants thrive in my sauna-like zone without much attention from me....and almost no supplemental watering.

*Lantana
*Elephant Ears
*Nandina (never have to water the stuff and suffers no serious pests or diseases)
*Santolina
*Agave
*Liriope (variegated and solid forms)
*Crepe Myrtle
*Zinnia
*Cleome
*Texas Bush Sage (aka Mexican Bush Sage or Purple Bush Sage)
*Periwinkle
*Petunia
*Clerodendrum (and I wish it didn't like our climate so much...it's a thug. Pretty, yes, but darned near impossible to get rid of)

Any kind of ornamental grass does well for me - I have many varieties and the only attention they get from me is a bit of a haircut in late winter/early spring.

Daylily - any variety. I don't grow them but plenty of folks around here do and they're virtually indestructable.

I grow lots of flowering annuals, but they need tons of supplemental watering or they flop in our heat and humidity, so I didn't include them in the list.

Renee

I forgot two of my hardiest plants!

Agastache
Baptisia (slow to establish, then watch it grow shrub size to 4ft x 4ft and produce gorgeous blue flowers. I want to try the yellow 'Carolina Moonlight').

I have great luck with:
Salvia Plumosa
Pink Guara Grass
Milkweed
Purple coneflowers
Tall Phlox
Black-eyed susans
Pentstemons (beard tongue)
Lavender
All ornamental grasses (i never water them)
Daylillies (old fashioned)
Diamond Frost
DUSTY MILLER - the kind with the ragged edged leaves - loves the heat for me.

Well, I just looked at the weather. We had like 4 days of rain predicted yesterday...and now one on Friday IF WE ARE LUCKY and then not again until next Wednesday. All week, temps in the 100's AGAIN. This is 3 weeks straight and it is nuts. I am not kidding when I say my garden is almost dead. When it rains I will be terrified trees will fall on the houses. It is really sad here.
It is UNBEARABLE outside. Sorry to whine and complain but I feel like I need to begin planting saguaro cactus. Even YUCCA is drooping...and we can't water until Sunday.
I don't think the climbing aster is going to resurect, the butterfly bush is almost gone...roses are flowering in protest but the flowers are paper dust when they open...

Nothing else is blooming, almost everywhere there is a perennial or annual it is bare dirt now.

GGG

Some of my survivors are in the list. I can add gaillardia Arizona Sun, border dahlias, miscanthus, dianthus, gazania, Missouri Primrose, blackberry lily, yarrow. Lamium in the shade.

I have the same conditions here ggg, and the daylily and iris foliage is browning badly where the clay is heavier. My section of Greensboro may have a bubble over it. Rain a couple miles away in any direction but only the nice rusty smell here!

GGG, I hear ya. But I water from a nice deep well and my plants are still suffering - going dormant and brown. You should see my caladiums. Sad.

Last summer I couldn't water - the old well was dry and we couldn't even shower or do laundry. You should have seen it then! We didn't get water til September and by then everything was wasted.

Still, in spring the plants started coming up. Even annuals that had reseeded! My garden has done better this year than it ever did before - if a bit ragged and wild.

So don't lose hope. Plants are remarkably resilient and strong. They may pack it in early because of this hellish weather (we don't have a hope of rain til next week and then it isn't a sure thing and in the meantime it's ALL 100's). But just wait...they will be back.

Southeast of Raleigh NC here - everything is struggling with 100degree temps and no rain but the best performers have been all my lilies, lantanas, moonflower, gerber daisies, selfseeded amaranthas and my heucheras. We do water from a well but have cut way back because we are afraid of it going dry and we need it for the house also...

Lynne

South Louisiana here. Also very hot but my cleome are looking great as well as hybiscus and crepe myrtle. Just hoping we don't have hurricane Dean to worry about. Katrina and Rita are still very vivid.
Foxesearth spoke of Alternanthera or common name Jacob's coat. These are outstanding foliage plants that come in many colors. The chartreuse is spectacular especially mixed with purple plants. Everyone should give them a try.
Ruth

I can add verbena, rock roses (portulaca); jasmine and honeysuckle vines are doing well; also clematis... the neighbor's coneflowers and what must be WAVE petunias, also New Zealand impatiens - will have to try some next year. My bugleweed is doing well, shrubs all fat-n-happy, and I can't seem to kill the !^#@%$# YUCCA that I planted in a moment of insanity...

Some of my troopers here:

Hibiscus 'Red Flyer'
Buddleia lindleyana
Salvia 'Wild Watermelon'
Salvia chamaedryoides
Salvia 'Cherry Chief'
Sedum 'Angelina'
Anisicanthus wrighttii

In the same conditions as lynnncfan these are blooming and seem unfazed with only a once a week sprinkle from the well. LOL pagan- I was also going to mention the variegated yuccas. 'Golden Sword' is a lovely yellow beacon right now in a far bed in my back yard.

I am just north of Raleigh NC and we are sooooo tired of 100+ temps and humidity! The only things I have doing well here are:

Buddleia of about 6 varieties
Daylillies of all sorts
Black-Eyed Susans
Zinnias (bext year ever for these--I don't get it!)
Homestead Verbena
A lovely Rugosa Rose

Everything else is suffering greatly. We are in the process of getting some land of our own right now and I am REALLY looking at what does well consistantly in this heat. What great timing for this thread!

-Amy