Leptodermis oblonga, butterflies like this northern Chinese sub-shrub and I like it too

The flowers are smallish but they're attractive, fragrant, and once they start mid-summer, they keep on coming. Plus the plant has a structural integrity that adds a bit of calm and order amidst the frenzied summer garden. It's a tight little shrub with parallel ascending stems. Clumped together, multiple plants combine to function a a 2-3 foot tall groundcover. I only know it from this one site so I can't speak to it's tolerance of different situations, but it seems quite content here, completely unpampered in a hot sunny location. I'm going to propagate it and put in a few massed groupings that will help bring order to the

We finally had a good rain this past weekend; plants seem happy for the first time in at least two months. Irrigation is a good thing but it has its limits. We got over 5 inches of rain at home while the Arboretum received ~1.75". I would love to have reversed the amounts but couldn't figure out how to do it. Still we should be good for a while. Summer is coming to a close though it will take four or five weeks to get there. It has certainly been a trying season though mild in comparison to what much of the rest of the country has endured. Now I read that areas of Australia are experiencing unprecedentedly high temperature. Next year will be exciting.