What a great idea for a thread! We've had one inch of rain in the last five weeks with high temps above 98 for three weeks running now. I hope lots of others will chime in. I'm always on the lookout for these.

Here's my list of bulletproofs:

Crinums: the queens of my summer borders
Salvias: Guaranitica Black and Blue, Mystic Spires, Farinacea Rhea, and purple Salvia lyrata (seeds all over the place, but the leaves are a luscious black purple in full sun)
Heliotrope, Azure Skies: this is a new one and it is a real winner. It's only been in the ground about six weeks and it's blooming like it's springtime. It's perennial too!
Duranta, Gold Edge: gorgeous blue green and chartreuse foliage
Cannas: I grow a purple leaved one, Phaison, and Tropicana. I love them and I hate them, but this time of year, I love them more.
Profusion Zinnias
Rozanne Geranium: I've had it about five years. Nothing stops it.
Tibouchinas
Kalimeris incisa "Blue Star" (only a milky blue but a winner)
Kalimeris pinnatifida is equally good.
Tanacetum, Isla Gold: beautiful feathery chartreuse foliage
Balloon flowers
Zephyranthes Rain Lilies: although I have and like several, to me, the common white candidas are the best of the bunch.
Peachie's Pick Stokesia
Carefree Sunshine Rose: my bushes look fabulous and have not been out of bloom since April.
Double Knockout Rose: ditto
Cupheas

Ditto the lack of rain in north Mississippi, we got 1/2 inch yesterday!!!!
My knockout roses look good, black-eyed susans (I don't water them), gallardia, shasta daisy, coneflowers, my gladiolus did well, surprisingly my limelight (sun) and Lady in Red (shade) hydrangeas are doing very well with little watering. Daylillies, too.
Donnabaskets, I've heard about heliotrope, I usually don't order plants, but might have to; is that something that can be found at garden centers? Same for Rozanne geraniums, heard great things about her, where did you find those? Even crinums, I had them in Louisiana, but don't see them around. I know that is a passalong plant, wish I could find some and ask for a division locally.
Laurie

The heliotrope I had always known is arborescens, an annual that only does well in cool seasons, so I rarely if ever bought it. This helioptrope is amplexicaulis (I think). It has been picked up by the Southern Living Plants label, but I suspect it may be a hard sell for garden centers because the other heliotrope is so well known (and no good for the south). For whatever reason, I have yet to see it locally.

I had been searching for it for two years, when someone here on the forums told me where to get it on line. I include the link below. I got three plants and they are all just beautiful, even though they were planted out late and we've had this awful, early, dry, heat.

I got my original Rozanne geranium online too, but I have since seen it at Lowe's, where I got some more of it. It's the only cranesbill I have grown here that really does well. It is a beautiful violet blue in the spring, but the heat makes it wash to pink. Other than that, it seems to be impervious to our heat as long as it gets water. It's fairly easy to find online.

I got my first crinums as a pass along about 3 or 4 years ago. They are the old Milk and Wine lilies. I traded some rooted rose cuttings for them. I have since been adding to my collection because there is no other plant as showy as these that will go through our mid and late summer season.
I just ordered several new ones from bulbsnmore on Ebay. He is a registered nursery in Florida, his service was top notch and the bulbs look great. He grows 375 varieties, so has about anything you could ever want. I referred to 'Garden Bulbs for the South' by Scott Ogden to help me with my selections. His prices were very reasonable, I thought. Crinums are slow to offset, many don't make seed, and when they do, seed to bloom takes about 5 years. Plant Delights has figured out how to propagate by tissue culture, but that's not fast either. In a word, crinum bulbs are expensive. But they are also permanent.

I hope all this helps you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Azure Skies Helioptrope source

My 'Hot Lips' Sage is blooming beautifully - and it's their first year.
Some of my roses are doing good, others not so well. I'm stressing over them as I planted a large rose bed this spring.

Not much else looks good. Even my cannas are ragged. :( The rain that came through yesterday skipped my place. We call it "Moses hill" because the rain always seems to part and go around us. lol

Mexican oregano !!!!!!!! No water too, Leonitus menthifolia, Salvia gregii, Salvias (al those mentioned above, S macrophylla tingo blue, S. mexicana, s. penstemonoides, Mex. bush sage,S. regla, Aloes with a bit of shade, silver leafed sunflower (native), silverleafed daisy(won't stop blooming). I picked seed from the wichita mountains in october and it started blooming in May and looks like it will bloom til october. Covered in blooms. I am a bit drier than many of the southern gardeners and a bit less humidity. i am still not truly south Wester. Stuck between the two of you.

Do you know the scientific names for your sunflower and daisies? I would love to do some research on them. I grow Mexican oregano too, and you're right. It's excellent.

Wow, thanks for the great ideas! This gives me hope. I've been researching all your suggestions, so much to learn. It seems as if some of these are the old heirloom plants. Noticed a thread over on Gardening in Texas forum under "Oven Baked and Cutting Back...", they have some good lists, too.