Dahlia Ambition's profusion of spectacular bright rich purple flowers. The fully double flowers, up to 6-8 in. wide (15-20 cm) feature elongated velvety petals and are not top-heavy because they contain little water. They remain standing up even when it rains.

Award-winning Dahlia 'David Howard' makes quite an impression on onlookers with its profuse and showy vibrant apricot-orange flowers set against the very dark purplish bronze foliage. The fully double flowers, up to 4 in. wide (10 cm) are not top-heavy and remain upright and straight, even when it rains. Grows up to 36 in. tall (90 cm) and doesn't need much staking or support. Great garden or container variety, lovely dark bronze foliage.

An exceptionally long and prolific bloomer, award-winner Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' features cheerful daisylike flowers, with long petals surrounding a prominent chocolate brown center disk that is covered with golden pollen and attracts butterflies. Opening orange-red, the petals fade progressively to orange and yellow as they mature. This fabulous perennial provides weeks of splashes of color, from early summer to fall, when many other perennials are starting to fade. Grows up to 4 ft. tall (120 cm). Very attractive as cut flowers, it has a good resistance to most insects and diseases

Ranked as one of the best Heuchera, award-winning Heuchera 'Obsidian' is a particularly attractive variety of Coral Bells with its foliage of lobed, rounded, long-petioled, rich dark purple to almost black, shiny leaves that remain dark throughout the growing season and do not fade. In early-mid summer, panicles of small, bell-shaped, creamy-white flowers bloom on slender stems rising up to 24 in. (60 cm) above the semi-evergreen foliage. This sport of Heuchera 'Obsidian' is prized by gardeners for its vigor and consistent performance under a variety of garden conditions and good resistance to powdery mildew.

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!

Smaller than most Spider Flowers, award-winning Cleome hassleriana 'Sparkler Blush' is a fast-growing annual plant with dramatic large, loose balls, 4 in. across (10 cm) of sweetly fragrant pink flowers with fascinating long stamens that protrude out, giving them a spider-like look. They rise above a handsome foliage of aromatic, palmate green leaves with a spine at the base of each leaf. The attractive blooms are followed by thin seed pods that will split open before dispersing the seed within. Blooming over a reasonably long period, from early summer until frost, Spider Flower remains attractive in the cold season thanks to its dried flower heads, which will be visited in fall by birds that feed on the seeds. 2002 All America Selections Award

Bold and sumptuous, award-winning Penstemon 'Firebird' or 'Schoenholzeri' is a bushy semi-evergreen perennial with erect wine-red stems boasting large, bell-shaped, crimson flowers, 1.5 in. across (3.5 cm), revealing a white throat with pale pink stripes. They rise above the lush foliage of lance-shaped, deep green leaves. A floriferous, vigorous, and fast-growing variety that is excellent in pots and containers as well as directly in the garden.On display from midsummer through fall, this Penstemon grows vigorously to 3 ft. tall (90 cm) and 2 ft. wide (60 cm). Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society

Multiple award-winner, Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' is a favorite of many gardeners for its unique, glowing dark purple stems and stunning, vertical spikes of rich, violet-blue flowers appearing in late spring or early summer. Very striking when in bloom, they last for weeks and bring strong color and form to the landscape. Drought tolerant and deer resistant, this Salvia is a real magnet for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees! Reliable and compact, it grows in round clumps of gray-green, aromatic foliage up to 18-24 in. high (45-60 cm) and nearly as wide.

One of the most superb ornamental grasses, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' (Hakone Grass) is a very beautiful golden variegated grass. Its foliage forms attractive mounds of gracefully arching, shiny leaves that ripple in the slightest breeze. The leaves are almost entirely variegated with gold longitudinal stripes that take chartreuse colors in the shade and turn brighter in the sun. Bringing alive any garden area, its foliage provides outstanding fall color when it changes to exquisite copper-orange shades before dying to the ground in winter.

Among the most popular hostas ever introduced, Hosta sieboldiana 'Frances Williams' is a large, variegated hosta with thick, puckered, strongly veined, broadly heart-shaped, blue-green leaves, 12 in. long (30 cm), widely and irregularly margined greenish-yellow, gradually maturing to creamy-beige. Funnel-shaped pale lilac blooms appear in early to midsummer, rising on scapes 30 in. long (75 cm), but the primary contribution of this hosta is its lovely foliage. Slow to establish, this clump-forming perennial is impressive in large containers or in the shady border.