With its luminous spiny collar of silvery-white bracts surrounding an egg-shaped flower head and tightly packed with flowers, initially pale green, then changing to steel-blue, Miss Willmott's Ghost (Eryngium giganteum) is quite a catch and an asset to any garden! Rising atop a basal rosette of heart-shaped green leaves, this short-lived perennial or biennial self-sows generously and remains in the garden year after year for our utmost pleasure.

Echinacea purpurea 'Rubinglow' is an outstanding short-stemmed variety of Coneflower with big, heavily petaled, brilliant magenta flowers surrounding dark brown central cones. Standing out, this sun-loving perennial is considered as first choice by many gardeners. An early bloomer, this great-looking perennial has a compact habit and shines in the garden from early to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost. Perfect for perennial borders, prairies and cottage gardens.

Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) is a bushy, woody-based deciduous perennial with long terminal panicles of small, lavender-blue flowers, borne on thin white stems, clad with finely-dissected, aromatic gray-green leaves. Blooming for weeks from mid-summer to fall, this delicate-looking plant is a toughy that is resistant to drought, heat, pests, and poor soils. Pretty and excellent for xeriscaping, its long blooming season, makes it an extremely valuable addition to the garden - even in winter when the stems create a beautiful feature in the landscape.

Native to Texas and Louisiana, Lindheimer's Beeblossom (Gaura lindheimeri) is a remarkably pretty perennial plant with tall, airy-looking flowers giving the appearance of butterflies floating in the garden. It adds a unique texture in the garden with its 4-petaled, pink-tinged or white, 1 in. long (2.5cm), butterfly-like flowers borne at the top of the airy spikes. It enjoys a long blooming season, typically from early summer into fall, and forms a vase-shaped clump, about 2-4 ft. high (60-120 cm). Tolerates drought, heat, humidity, partial shade, and dry soils. Deer and rabbit resistant, Gaura attract butterflies and hummingbirds.