Vigorous, award-winner Anemone x hybrida 'September Charm' is incredibly beautiful with its masses of slightly cupped, silvery pink flowers, 2-3 in. wide (6-8 cm), with 6-9 petals, deeper pink on the backside, and yellow center stamens. The flowers are gracefully carried on wiry stems above the deeply divided, dark green foliage.

You will be charmed by the bountiful long-blooming spikes of vivid red flowers of Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail'. A real beauty for the border, this award-winner is a vigorous, upright perennial which enjoys an extremely long bloom season from early summer to fall and features cheerful bright crimson-red fleecy flower spikes held on long, graceful wands atop bushy clumps of large, slightly puckered, dark green leaves. Trouble-free and easy care, it attracts birds and butterflies but deer and rabbits ignore it!

Winner of the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society, Verbena bonariensis is a tall and slender-stemmed perennial that displays rich lilac flowers in tight clusters atop long stems that sway gracefully in the summer breeze. They rise well above rosettes of lance-shaped, dark green leaves that hug the ground. A superior nectar plant, hummingbirds and butterflies love it, and so will you!

Award-winner Sedum 'Herbstfreude' or 'Autumn Joy' is probably one of the best of all border sedums. Vigorous, hardy, carefree, good-looking, with a season of interest lasting more than 6 months from early summer until well into winter, who could resist? Easy to grow, this standout perennial forms a 2 feet tall (60 cm) clump of thick, fleshy blue-green foliage topped with flower buds resembling broccoli. Gradually, these densely clustered buds will reveal tiny, star-like soft raspberry pink flowers in mid to late summer, which will softly change to rich rose and then coppery-rust in the fall as they die.

Opening from bright red flower buds, award-winning Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 'Carmin Brilliant' features attractive sprays of 20 or more stunning, carmine-pink flowers adorned with golden yellow throats. The reverse of their petals is flushed with rich scarlet-orange and this ensemble contrasts beautifully with the crimson-purple calyxes and bronzy-purple stems. Blooming from midsummer through early fall, the brilliant flowers rise above handsome clumps of erect, medium green, sword-shaped leaves.

Statuesque with tufts of foliage bursting with emerging seed heads in early summer, Stipa gigantea is an impressive ornamental grass. Evergreen or semi-evergreen, it forms a dense mound of slender, arching gray-green leaves, up to 18 in. tall (45 cm), from which emerge erect flower spikes rising 4 ft. (120 cm) above the foliage. They bear elegant panicles of silvery spikelets, with long awns and dangling golden anthers which sway gracefully in the slightest breeze and persist well into winter. Spectacular when backlit by the rising or setting sun!

Award-winner Zebra Grass 'Zebrinus' (Miscanthus sinensis) is a very distinctive ornamental grass with its variegated foliage displaying unusual, horizontal, soft yellow rings along the gracefully arching leaves. This attractive foliage turns rich gold in the fall before turning to tan over the winter. It is complemented by spectacular, pinkish-copper plumes which emerge in late summer or early fall and turn buff-silver as they mature. Standing out beautifully in the garden and providing wonderful winter interest, you may want to treat this attractive Maiden Grass as a specimen plant. Grows up to 5-7 feet tall (150-210 cm). Drought tolerant, it is deer and rabbit resistant!

Exotic-looking, award-winning Amaranthus cruentus 'Velvet Curtains' is a vigorous annual or biennial plant with erect, dark crimson plumes and stunning, ovate, red colored foliage. It features an upright, bushy habit and helps create dramatic mixed borders. Great for the back of the border or as a filler, its long-lasting flower spikes make excellent cut flowers that are prized by florists for their beauty.