High summer heat can easily push a garden past its prime as temperatures encourage plants to set seed and go dormant as a survival strategy. Keeping gardens going under those conditions requires copious amounts of water - something we are short of and has gotten expensive.

Looking to drought tolerant native and exotic plants will give you a break from high maintenance and dramatic water bills. When using exotics, be sure to inquire about their invasiveness. Not all exotics are bad guys. Since most drought hardy plants also prefer a leaner soil, all that money formerly spent on fertilizers can be put away for a nice winter vacation.

Q: Your suggestions for low maintenance plants in part shade under a large fir tree were helpful. I'm planning an ornamental garden in similar conditions. What other plants should I be looking for? They must thrive in less than full day sun and less than average water and care.

A: One thing you can do to increase the selection of flowering plants is to have the tree professionally limbed so more sunlight penetrates to the ground. That won't increase the amount of moisture available because the tree will continue to suck up most of it, so drought and shade tolerance remain key elements of plant selection. A few more good choices are many forms of Euphorbia, the Hebe clan, shrubby and ground cover varieties of Euonymous, shrubby Hypericum androsemum (St. John's wort) cultivars, colorful dwarf bamboo, Aucuba (Gold dust plant), Mahonia in it's many versions and most of the minor bulbs including Bluebells. The better the light, the wider the choice of plants.

Q: Recently, I read about planting dwarf plumbago in a dry shade garden. I love the color blue. How would this plant work with better light and water?

A: Commonly called Leadwort (don't you just love all those worts out there?), the perennial Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is not a true plumbago. It's second name says it mimics one and the flowers do indeed look like that. Though true plumbago is a tender shrub or vine (zone 8b-11) this Leadwort is hardy in the Puget Sound basin. Experience in the Lazy Garden and all the sources I've researched say dwarf plumbago prefers full sun and will tolerate light shade. Flowering is reduced in shade.

Any well-stocked nursery should carry or be able to obtain perennial Leadwort. If you live in one of the warmer microclimates of the Puget Sound, ask about shrubby Plumbago auriculata (aka Blue jasmine). Though not fragrant, it blooms with phlox-like cobalt blue to white flowers in mid to late summer. It is deciduous and in a cold winter may die back significantly. Not to worry: it's a fast grower and fills in nicely by August each year.

Q: My fuchsias have nearly stopped blooming. Do I need to fertilize them?

A: Those fancy, pampered tender fuchsias require dependable water and frequent feeding with a soluble low nitrogen fertilizer. Too much nitrogen and you get lots of foliage with few blooms. Hardy fuchsias, on the other hand, get along on average watering and compost enriched well drained soil. A dose of a good organic fertilizer in early summer will give them a boost for stronger stems and heavier bloom.

Most cultivated fuchsias hail from cool summer regions in the mountains and southern extremes of South America. They don't like the heat. Temperatures above 80 for an extended period will cause them to stop blooming. We've had those conditions, so it's not surprising these cool region fuchsias have slowed down. Never fear: once temperatures are more consistently in the 70s they will begin to bloom again.

Continue a regimen of regular water and fertilizer. The best way to keep fancy fuchsias well fed is to substitute a quarter dose of liquid fertilizer for a regular watering once a week. That way, nutrients are continually available to these beautiful hungry hussies.

Do you have a question for Stephen Lamphear? Send a message to Lazy.gardener@comcast.net