Sun-loving, easy to grow, hardy, heat and drought tolerant, False Sunflower 'Asahi' (Heliopsis helianthoides) is quite fabulous with its large, double pompon golden yellow flowers! A valuable addition to the landscape with its profusion of bright glowing daisies on display for 6 to 8 weeks all summer until fall, it also features a lovely, bushy foliage that is pleasant to the eye. Use 'Asahi' to brighten up a sunny area of the garden or in a vase where they will last a couple of weeks!

Valued for its showy fluffy vertical flower spikes contrasting with a lush, finely textured, grassy foliage, Gayfeather or Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) is a perennial of great ornamental value. Interestingly flowering in succession from top to bottom over 4 weeks and more, its button-shaped, purple, rosy red or white flowers resemble blazing stars (hence its common name). Attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, this beautiful native American species enjoys a long season of interest from mid-summer to fall and supplies winter bird food. The narrow, opposite leaves stay attractive all summer and turn a rich bronze in fall. Easy to grow and low care, Liatris spicata adds a strong vertical accent in sunny borders or prairie gardens. It helps create outstanding combinations with the warm golds of Rudbeckia or the purple blossoms of Echinacea.

Valued for its showy clusters of small, violet-red flowers and its fabulous foliage display, purple-flushed with dark plum veins, Origanum 'Rosenkuppel', commonly known as Marjoram or Ornamental Oregano, is a pretty addition to the garden. With a long season of interest from mid-summer to fall, it creates outstanding combinations with the warm golds of Heliopsis helianthoides or the soft pink blossoms of Sedums and is attractive to butterflies. While its leaves are aromatic, don't add them to your salads as this oregano is not of the flavorful kind!

Long-lived and drought tolerant, award-winner Sedum 'Karfunkelstein' is a harmonious sight in the landscape with its masses of light pink flowers, densely packed in large umbrella-shaped flower heads, and showing off atop sturdy purple stems that keep them perfectly upright, coupled with the fleshy, purple-tinged leaves. 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?