Noted for its large, slightly-fragrant blooms, Echinacea 'Sundown' is a spectacular addition to the garden with its brilliant orange-red hues and wide ray florets. This great-looking perennial boasts a profusion of intense orange daisy-like flowers, up to 4 in. across (10 cm), with a central dark brown cone and overlapping, drooping ray florets. This compact Coneflower has an upright and columnar habit with sturdy stems that do not need staking. Blooming from early to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost, it is perfect for perennial borders, small gardens and containers.

Primarily grown for the look of its beautiful foliage and flowers, Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain' is a popular hardy Salvia that is welcomed in many gardens. This attractive perennial features upright reddish stems, often gracefully arching, lined with interesting whorls of rosy-purple bracts highlighted with small violet-blue flowers. Appearing in early summer, the flowers bloom abundantly for weeks if deadheaded. They rise above a bushy mound of large, lyre-shaped, fuzzy, green leaves. Striking in the garden when in bloom, this Salvia brings color and form to the early summer border.