Sorry about the lack of info. I was looking for a broad range of flowers with no height requirement and interested in those plants that can take the sun and heat and are more drought tolerant. When the flowers are past their bloom, I would be quite happy if at least the leaves hold up and don't go crispy. An example is my Yarrow which is in a prominent place. Its foliage looks awful come the end of July. And I do water when plants absolutely need it. The perennial bed in question is in the back of our garden against a fence line and faces south with full sun all day long. I'm looking for those plants that are still looking good in the July-August time frame and thought I'd ask here. I've been introducing many more trouble free plants as I'm certainly not getting any younger! So . . . In the past two years I've renewed the bed by adding Goldenrod, the Salvia 'May Night', along with two new 'Ruby Star' Weigela shrubs to give variety to the bed. Last year I added four peonies and two Baptisia 'australis'. I have the Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue' which is an okay flower, but I've had them for years and am a little tired of them.

Several of mine look great right off the bat: Liberty, Sagae, Magic Fire, June, Touch Of Class, Great expectations, and Kiwi Full Monty at the top of the list. Others will need some time to reach their peak color: El Nino, Earth Angel, Pauls Glory and Stained Glass. On Stage is still small pips.

Without a doubt, Ann's brownies are our favorite. DECADENT BROWNIES (Ann T) 1 cup butter 20 ounces chocolate 1-1/2 cups sugar pinch of salt 4 eggs 1 cup flour vanilla to taste 1 cup toasted pecans OPTIONS: Use 3/4 cup brown and 3/4 cup white sugar Add a shot of real espresso These are my all time favourite brownies. If you like a fudge style brownie then you will love these. I've played around with this recipe for a number of years. I call it Decadent because of the 20 ounces of chocolate in the batter. Rather than melt butter with the chocolate and then add the sugar. I melted the butter and the sugar together and then added all the chocolate. I also used a combination of brown and white sugar and I think the flavour is even richer. I edited the recipe to show the change. And I topped some of them with a glaze. But decided that they are decadent enough without the glaze. The glaze is just overkill and unnecessary. They freeze well. I usually cut them into bars, wrap in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer bag. Easy to pull out a bar when a chocolate craving hits. Line a 13 X 9 inch rectangle pan with foil and butter. Melt butter and sugar together over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the chocolate and stir until chocolate melts. Continuing stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat. Add one egg at a time and mix well using a wooden spoon. Add vanilla (and espresso if using). Stir in flour and salt and mix well. Stir in the pecans or walnuts and pour into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 °F for approximately 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Brownies should be set in the middle but still slightly soft. Place immediately in the freezer. When cold, remove and cut into bars. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

I know you're asking for crab cakes, but here's a wonderful crab stuffed mushroom recipe that I made for an appetizer on New Years Eve. Becky * Exported from MasterCook * Crab Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe By : Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 18 medium mushrooms (about 1 pound) 7 ounces crab meat 5 green onions with tops -- finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon dried savory ground black pepper 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/3 cup mayonnaise grated Parmesan cheese paprika 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2 In a medium bowl, combine crabmeat, green onions, herbs, and pepper. Mix in mayonnaise and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese until well combined. Refrigerate filling until ready for use. 3 Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp towel. Remove stems. Spoon out the gills and the base of the stem, making deep cups. Discard gills and stems. Fill the mushroom caps with rounded teaspoonfuls of filling, and place them in an ungreased shallow baking dish. Sprinkle tops with Parmesan and paprika. 4 Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately Makes 6 servings Recipe by Wilma Scott, AllRecipes.com Wilma says: This tasty appetizer seasoned with thyme, oregano, and savory. Choose good sized mushrooms, about 2 inches across. When cleaning mushrooms, don't run them under water. They are like little sponges, and will absorb it; just wipe them clean with a damp towel. The filling can be made with fresh, canned, or imitation crabmeat. If using canned, be sure to rinse it first. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : Made 12-31-07 Halved recipe and filled three portabello mushrooms caps (stems and gills removed). Brushed the caps with oil and parbaked at 350F for 15 minutes, then filled and baked for antoher 15 minutes. Used canned lump crabmeat, rinsed and drained.