Well, I’m just exhausted.

We had two weeks of the Olympics, then a week each of the Democratic Convention and the Republican Convention, and during all this the Hallmark Channel was doing an August mystery month with reruns of “Murder She Wrote,” “McBride,” etc.

It’s just as well; I haven’t done much gardening because of the drought. The rains were wonderful and we are in maintenance mode because it’s a bit early to do a lot of fall stuff. Today let’s talk about Armeria pseudarmeria. If you don’t recognize the name, substitute “thrift.”

I do some of my best gardening at the kitchen table with seed catalogs, pad and pencil. In my “stack” I found a flyer from Fleuroselect. Most gardeners know about AAS, the annual All America Selections, but this group does testing of plants in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. For 2009 they have named as gold medal winners two varieties of Armeria and one Prunella grandiflora.

You may be weary of seeing so much of the little fuchsia-colored thrift on every road bank each spring. Two new varieties of Armeria pseudarmeria will be available for the 2009 gardening season, so when you are looking at catalogs watch for the seed offerings. They are “ballerina red’ and ‘ballerina white.’ These are different from the fuchsia-colored plant we usually see because, in addition to the welcomed red and white colors, they will bloom from June to September. They also are heat tolerant.

These two Armerias, like their more familiar sister, are perennials. The Fleuroselect people suggest you sow the seeds in February, scattering them on top of a growing medium and lightly covering them with sand. Transplant them to a larger container, then put them in the ground in April or so, when the weather warms. They will be with you for years.

This Armeria pseudarmeria has many branches, growing to 10 inches with 3/4-inch-wide leaves and rounded blooms. If you remove the dead blooms, the plants will continue to flower into autumn.

Wild Armeria is a low-growing tufted evergreen found in Europe and along the Pacific coast of our country.

Even in the hot climate of the Southeast, thrift is a good choice for an edging plant, a border or in the rock garden. It grows in average soil but that soil must be well-drained and in full sun.

An unusual thing about this Armeria pseudarmeria is that, although a perennial, it blooms the first year from seed. There is another variety, ‘Joystick,’ which grows 15 to 16 inches tall.

Don’t scorn the little thrift. Plan now to buy seeds for the new gold medal varieties, to plant next February and enjoy all summer. You’ll need something; there will be no Olympics or political conventions in summer 2009.

Juanita B. Garrison, of Denver Downs Farm, writes regularly about gardening for the

Independent-Mail.