“My green thumb comes only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.” H. Ale

Emerging from a rather difficult gardening month, I want to have plants that laugh at the heat. Thumbing through glossy garden magazines, I have come across plants that appear suitable for our capricious and yet predictable New Jersey climate.

Two of my favored annuals, coreopsis “Cosmic Eyes” and C. “Full Moon,” have bloomed continuously since early June, being drought tolerant and compact with dramatic daisies tipped in sunshine yellow.

This hot summer seems to tell us that we have moved into a different zone, so I have been looking into plants that fare well a little farther south.

One of them, a wonderful performer, Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Japanese plum yew) is a low-growing, lustrous, dark-green spreader, reaching 3 feet high and 5 feet across.

I noticed this plant a few years ago in Oklahoma and had to have it. During the past two years, its tips grew only marginally and it still fits into the assigned space. It is impervious to a hot summer.

Nandina domestica “Flirt,” a small shrub, delights with bright red leaves during early winter, and it is very happy in a sheltered, sunny spot.

One single butterfly, a yellow swallowtail, was circling and dancing for days around a large stand of hot-pink phlox, seemingly alone until a few days ago, when it was joined by a companion and both took off in a delighted, joyful spiral.

As the ruby-throated hummingbird seeks out each floret on the hot-orange crocosmia, crows and blackbirds are engaged in a turf war with shrill “caw caw” noises punctuating a hot day.

Chipmunks hop onto the birdbath and drink, their little beady eyes ever watchful of sudden moves. It seems the entire finch population congregates here to avail themselves of the generously filled bird feeders, and the great horned owl can be heard in the early-morning hours communicating with another.

Summer is a time to listen to nature; thoughts of ice and snow are so far away.

In my garden I rule, sometimes quite heavy-handed, such as now when so many tall perennials beg to be cut to rebloom at a later date. What I also realize is that the garden actually rules me. There is hardly any other activity I would like better than being surrounded by flowers generously perfuming the air, buzzing insects and a tinkling water feature.

My garden teaches me to “slow down” and savor the serenity it confers.

What is a locavore?

A term used to describe someone who seeks out locally grown and produced foods, usually within 100 miles. The word locavore was the New Oxford American Dictionary word of the year for 2007 and is a growing trend.

What to do now:

• Consider allowing some seeds to ripen to save them for next year;

• Continue dead-heading; • Fertilize late-summer and fall flowers;

• Keep lawns at least 3 inches high;

• Water deeply early in the morning, and less frequently.

Gotti Kelley, past president of the Navesink Garden Club, serves on the board of the Garden Club of New Jersey.