By this time of the year, even though it is after the traditional dog days of mid-July to mid-August, I feel I have the following options: I can carp and whine constantly about conditions (heat, drought, hail and floods) that I cannot control; or I can feel a personal failure because, presumably, I cannot control heat, drought, hail and floods; or I can wander about the garden that I love and count my blessings where I find them.

So I wandered and counted. When friends asked how the garden was this year, my stock answers were "alive" or "mulched." Both are true. But notice I left out "beautiful." I shouldn't have, though, because in my purposeful peregrination through the gardens I found unexpected, and frankly sustaining bits of beauty.

The past five years or so have been a challenge to the most determined gardener and plants. But I have always considered my first and most important crop to be the soil and its cover of mulch. If that's healthy and vigorous, my hope and experience is that it will produce hardy plants. Remarkably, and thankfully not unexpectedly, all my plants bloomed on schedule and are still alive as we lurch, hotly, through climactic disasters toward the hoped-for coolness and calm of fall.

In my search for the Heat Heroes in the garden this year, I found some that are exceptionally satisfying. I am confident that most gardeners can make their own lists, but here's mine - heroic plants that have withstood hot winds, restricted water, reflected heat from rock walls and daytime temperatures that I thought only happened on the surface of the planet Venus.

Penstemon barbatus. Unlike some of the others of its tribe, P. barbatus blooms vigorously in the early summer and, with some pruning, will rebloom now. The trick is to cut the first bloom spikes back to the basal rosette just after it blooms and before it begins to set seed. Then, in the fall, let the plant seed and, in a few years, it will form a dense mat of semi-deciduous, glossy leaves and lovely blooms. This is one of the few that seems to tolerate almost total sun. Divide the plants every two to three years in the early spring.

Hen and chicks is regarded, sadly, by many as a "junk plant." They are actually beautiful, with a charming growth habit and remarkably subtle colorings and markings - some are slightly hairy or fuzzy, some have red edges, some are quite flat, but others have very vertical elements. I value them for their symmetrical form and their use as living mulch. While their roots are very shallow, they nevertheless not only cover and cool the soil, but also provides shelter for beneficial insects and do not interfere with the longer roots of nearby plants.

"Walker's Low" catmint is such a dandy plant it is probably in danger of being over-used in the area. Remarkably easy to care for and undemanding, it adds color, texture, form, and bees and butterflies to the garden. And it likes the heat.

The GreatPlants program of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum introduced "Mongolian Gem" to gardeners in the Upper Midwest. This is the finest allium I know, stunning both in flower and seed. The onion-like foliage is unobtrusive. While my plants are very upright, I would think that they could also be grown as "see through" plants with fall asters and others.

Lamb's Ears also gets criticism because it is so durable, productive and hardy. Wait! Isn't that what we want? I find it one of my most favored plants because you can plant it on a slight slope, add mulch and do some serious erosion control. I cut - well, OK, chop - mine way back in the spring and I remove the flowers once they have bloomed. It is a superb living mulch. It pulls easily. While it does reseed, the baby plants are easy to pull. I like the rather bright silver tones of the foliage amongst the various shades of green. And every child I have ever met is charmed by the fur-like foliage.

The euphorbias are a very large family, 2,000 members or so. At this time of year, I am grateful for the presence of E. myrsinites, Myrtle spurge. This is another bluish-gray plant of beautiful form. It will reseed gently, and it is easy to transplant the babies or let them be.

Recently, I saw a friend who asked how the gardens were. I answered that they were doing pretty well, largely because they were so well mulched.

"That's really your middle name isn't it?" she asked kindly.

Well, I hope so. Cathie Mulch Draine. Sounds good to me.

Cathie Draine is a member of the South Dakota State University Co-operative Extension Master Gardeners and the Garden Writers' Association. She lives and gardens in Black Hawk. Contact her at cathiedraine@rap.midco.net.