Ceratostigma willmottianum...blue flowers look somehow better in cool weather

Looking at the inflorescence closely reveals why, how actually, this plant blooms continuously from mid-summer to frost. I'm repeating myself, but  I will again point out that P. willmottianum is perfectly hardy for us here in USDA HZ 7-b. Last winter the aboveground parts came through undamaged. Most years it returns as a dieback perennial. It's definitely worth a shot if you like blue flowers.

We propagated this plant earlier in the summer so we'll have a dozen or so to plant next year. I'm not sure what to do with them. Small flowers in a  color that recedes under the best of circumstances tend to be overwhelmed by the oppressive light of summer. It's a wonderful plant to see silhouetted against the blue sky but since it only grows to a few feet in height that requires a special situation. It does works wonderfully near swimming pools where you actually look up at plants two feet tall! We don't have a swimming pool in the Asian Collections. Maybe a bank of it somewhere in partial shade near the trail against dark rocks? At close range, the color is sufficient justification for a planting. 

The weather broke last Saturday afternoon

It was summer, now it's fall and the volunteers are back almost in full force. Nancy, Betty, and Eugenia survey the area around the GCA Circle scouting weeds, dead foliage, boxwood reversions, etc. Betty and Nancy have been steady this summer; others have come sporadically. There honestly isn't that much work in an irrigated garden in the summer. Nathan, Katie, Carole, and I can handle weeding and spraying. There was plenty of work for all of us today and there will be only more as real fall approaches.