To me, 100 to 120 degress -- as in our interior valleys an desert -- is "roasting hot sun". The reason that your corn marigolds and poppies started looking ratty come summer is that they are cool season annuals (the poppies are almost perennial when they get summer water). Here's quite a few plants that are drought-tolerant and will take the roasting heat of Potrero Hill: Aeonium AEONIUM Agave parryi, A. shawii SMALL AGAVES Aloe saponaria SOAP ALOE Aloe striata CORAL ALOE Anigozanthos flavidus YELLOW KANGAROO PAW Beschorneria yuccoides AMOLE Calandrinia grandiflora ROCK PURSLANE Carex buchananii CURLY TOP SEDGE Carex testacea ORANGE SEDGE Centaurea cineraria DUSTY MILLER Centaurea gymnocarpa DUSTY MILLER Chondropetalum elephantinum GIANT CAPE RUSH Chondropetalum tectorum SMALL CAPE RUSH Convolvulus sabatius GROUND MORNING GLORY Cotyledon orbiculata PIGÂS-EARS Dasylirion longissimum MEXICAN GRASS TREE Dasylirion wheeleri DESERT SPOON Doryanthes palmeri SPEAR LILY Echeveria HENS-AND-CHICKS Elegia equisetacea RESTIO Eriogonum umbellatum SULPHUR FLOWER Euphorbia myrsinites MYRTLE SPURGE Furcraea FALSE AGAVE Gazania hybrids GAZANIA Helianthemum nummularium SUNROSE Hemerocallis DAYLILIES Hesperoyucca whipplei CHAPARRAL YUCCA Kniphofia TORCH LILY, RED HOT POKER Lomandra confertifolia SMALL MAT RUSH Melica imperfecta COAST RANGE MELIC Muhlenbergia pubescens SOFT BLUE MEXICAN MUHLY Nolina parryi SPOON GRASS Opuntia PRICKLY-PEAR, BEAVERTAIL, CHOLLA Origanum ÂBetty RollinsÂ, ÂHopleyÂs ORNAMENTAL OREGANO Penstemon heterophyllus ÂMargarita BOP SKY BLUE PENSTEMON Penstemon centranthifolius SCARLET BUGLER Penstemon spectabilis SHOWY PENSTEMON Perityle incana GUADALUPE ISLAND ROCK DAISY Phlomis JERUSALEM-SAGE Puya alpestris PUYA Puya berteroniana GIANT PUYA Salvia chamaedryoides GERMANDER SAGE Sedum dendroideum TREE SEDUM Senecio cineraria DUSTY MILLER Senecio mandraliscae KLEINIA Senecio vira-vira DUSTY MILLER Sisyrinchium californicum YELLOW-EYED GRASS Stipa gigantea GIANT FEATHER GRASS Trichostema lanatum WOOLY BLUE-CURLS Yucca filamentosa ADAMÂS NEEDLE Yucca rostrata SILVER YUCCA Zauschneria californica CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA And so many more. Joe

Don't know Chester about the complimenting other than Tall Ornamental Grasses would have a great winter effect. Others for screening include: Ilex holly Buxus Boxwood Viburnum (Arrowwoods are very dense when bare) 'Red Rocket' Red Maple Acer rubrum Individual or Lengthy Clematis plantings on either upright posts or lattice. Here's how I utilzed 4x4's in my previous garden: 'Skeeter's Broom' Acer palmatum 'Herbstfeuer' Acer palmatum Acer griseum multiple trunks at the base. Ginkgo 'Chi-Chi'/'Tit'/'Tsi-Tsi' same plant Some ideas for your kettle. Dax

If you know me, you know that I have a LIST of hosta companion plants! Here it is: HOSTA COMPANION PLANTS Acanthus spinosus (BearÂs Breech) Adiantum sp. (Maidenhair Fern) Aquilegia sp. (Columbine) Arisaema sp. (Green Dragon, Cobra Lily, Jack-in-the-Pulpit) Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard) Asarum sp. (Wild Ginger, European Ginger) Astilbe sp. (Astilbe) Astilboides tabularis (RogerÂs Flower) Athyrium niponicum ÂPictum and other cultivars (Japanese Painted Fern) Brunnera macrophylla cultivars (Perennial Forget-Me-Not) Cimicifuga sp. (Bugbane, Snakeroot) Convallaria majalis cultivars (Lily-of-the-Valley) Cryptotaenia japonica atropurpurea Darmera peltata (Umbrella Plant) Dicentra exima (Bleeding Heart) Dicentra spectabilis (Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart) Disporum sp. (Fairy Bells) Epimedium sp. (Epimedium) Fallopia japonica variegata (Japanese Fleece Flower) Festuca ovina glauca (Fescue ÂElijah BlueÂ) Hakonechloa macra (Golden Variegated Hakonechloa ÂAureolaÂ) Hedera helix (English Ivy) Helleborus sp. (Christmas-rose, Lenten-rose, Hellebore) Heuchera sp. (Alumroot, Coralbells) Heucherella cultivars Lamiastrum galeobdolon (Deadnettle) Lamium maculatum (Spotted Deadnettle) Lilium sp. (Lily) Petasites giganteum (Giant Butterbur) Petasites ÂVariegatus (Variegated Butterbur) Polygonatum ÂVariegatum (Variegated SolomonÂs Seal) Polygonatum biflorum (Small SolomonÂs Seal) Polygonatum commutatum (Giant SolomonÂs Seal) Primula sp. (Japanese Primrose) Pulmonaria (Lungwort) Rodgersia aesculifolia Rodgersia pinnata Saxifraga sarmentosa (Strawberry Begonia, Strawberry Geranium) Tiarella (Foam Flower) Tricyrtis sp. (Toad Lily) Vinca minor (Periwinkle, Myrtle) Viola sp. (Violet) Yucca filamentosa (Yucca) Many varieties of ferns, grasses, shrubs, ground covers, and woodland plants are excellent companion plants.

I store them at room temperature. I place them in a container, as the seeds can easily crush. The pods should probably be removed, but I leave them on to prevent crushing. They germinate in a couple of weeks in perlite.