If you are looking for abundant blooms in shades of crimson for weeks of summer color, Achillea 'Fanal' previously known as 'The Beacon' is what you need. This eye-catching Yarrow features masses of long-lasting clusters of bold and brilliant carmine-red flowers with yellow centers, gradually fading with age. They rise elegantly atop a pleasantly aromatic, grayish-green fern-like foliage that nicely compliments the cheerful flat umbel flowers.

Vigorous, award-winning Monarda 'Gardenview Scarlet' (Bee Balm) is a clump-forming perennial boasting masses of vibrant red flowers, borne in dense, globular terminal heads. Blooming for weeks from mid-summer to early fall, they rest upon a whorl of decorative pink-tipped, pale green bracts that mature to bronze. Attracting scores of butterflies and hummingbirds, their vibrant color is set off to perfection by the bright, fresh green of the leaves, which are delightfully fragrant and can be enjoyed in salads or simply by passing by. This Monarda is significantly more resistant to powdery mildew than older varieties.

Considered by most growers as the loveliest Globe Thistle, Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue' is an excellent rebloomer that produces abundant, dark violet-blue flowers at the end of gracefully curving, branched, silvery stems. Blooming from mid-summer to early fall, the bold and ornamental, steel blue globe-shaped flowers (the size of a golf ball) rise above the foliage of sharply divided, dark green leaves, covered in down beneath. Adds outstanding contrast, interest, and color to the summer garden while being trouble-free and low maintenance.

Cotinus coggygria is noted for its attractive foliage and large, airy flower plumes that extend into yellowish-pink to pinkish-purple in spring and which cover the plant with fluffy, hazy 'smoky' puffs throughout summer. Smoketree is an upright and open, multiple-branching, deciduous shrub with beautiful round leaves, that is native to Southern Europe and central China. Depending on the varieties, the foliage color ranges from various shades of green to rich purple. Small and insignificant, the flowers are borne in clusters (panicles) whose hairs, pink or purple, give an effect of fluffy clouds.

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!

Providing striking color and architectural height to borders, Digitalis ferruginea (Rusty Foxglove) is an eye-catching biennial or short-lived perennial boasting tall spikes of pendulous, funnel-shaped, creamy to pale golden-brown flowers with rusty interior veining. Blooming in late spring to early summer, they rise from a basal rosette of dark green, deeply veined, evergreen leaves. They are attractive to hummingbirds, which hover near the tubular blossoms and to birds, which will flock to the seedheads in the fall. This architectural plant naturalizes well as it self-sows profusely, creating lovely colonies in the landscape. A wonderful addition to the herbaceous border.