Proven to be a workhorse in the garden, award-winning Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' is a highly popular choice. This perennial plant is long-lived and reliably produces masses of rich golden yellow, 3-4 in. flowers (7-10 cm) from midsummer through early fall, no matter what the weather is like. Each flower has many ray-like petals surrounding a dark brown cone in the center, providing fantastic warm color in the late summer garden.

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!

Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' adds a touch of elegance to the borders with its large, sweet honey-scented, pure white flowers, reflexing away from their coppery-brown, spiky central cone. Blooming from early to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost, this attractive perennial provides a vibrant floral display in the garden. Perfect for perennial borders, prairies, and cottage gardens.

Award-winner Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' is highly prized by gardeners for its extremely long blooming season and its unique and outstanding color. It features deep, rich, dark orange-red petals surrounding a prominent chocolate brown center disk rimmed with gold and covered with golden pollen that attracts butterflies. The large flowers, up to 3 in. across, are a feast for the eye! Grows up to 4 ft. tall (120 cm). Very attractive as cut flowers, it has a good resistance to most insects and diseases

Robust, Crocosmia masoniorum is a very attractive and elegant species with brilliant, upward-facing, flaming orange blossoms sitting atop arching stems and blooming from midsummer to early fall. The buds open slowly from the base to the tip of clusters, and the old flowers drop 'cleanly' from the stems. Coupled with its clumps of erect sword-shaped leaves, this ensemble makes a stunning show in the garden!

Stipa tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass) is an exceptionally lovely and graceful ornamental grass that exhibits silvery-green thread-like leaves in late spring, that sway gracefully in the slightest breeze, delicately softening any landscape. All summer, it bears abundant feathery panicles, which are held a little above the foliage and can be used in dried arrangements. Native to the Americas, this perennial grass provides a fairly long-lasting display with its airy silky green leaves turning golden brown towards fall.

Eryngium bourgatii 'Picos Blue' (Mediterranean Sea Holly) is a lovely addition to the garden or mixed containers for various reasons. Unlike other species, its deeply lobed, dark green foliage, which appears before the flowers, is elegantly marbled with broad silvery-white veins, making it very attractive and luminous. In mid-late summer, its branched stems produce extraordinarily eye-catching, cone-like flowerheads with narrow, spiny, deep blue bracts that make wonderful additions to dried flower arrangements.

A highly popular bicolored Daylily, Hemerocallis 'Frans Hals' produces open, starry blossoms, up to 4.5 in. wide (11 cm), with yellow outer petals and bright deep reddish-orange inner petals perfectly lined with pale yellow midribs. Wow! Blooming in mid-late summer, this clump-forming deciduous perennial grows up to 24 in. tall (60 cm) and spreads slowly via rhizomes to 16 in. (40 cm)

One of the most popular ornamental grasses worldwide, Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' (Feather Reed Grass) is a majestic ornamental grass, highly valued for its erect feathery flower plumes, moving gracefully with even the slightest breeze. Fast-growing, reliable, with a multi-season interest, this cool season grass is not only beautiful, but it is also virtually carefree and quite versatile. 'Karl Foerster' is a great-looking plant for the garden as it provides superb vertical lines.