A Pretty Late Season Border Idea with Perennials and Architectural Grasses

Plant Combinations, Flowerbeds Ideas, Summer Borders, Fall Borders

Add color and form to your garden with late-flowering beauties. Combine architectural ornamental grasses such as Cortaderia selloana (Pampas Grass) with its striking feathery plumes and the statuesque Stipa gigantea (Golden Oats). These eye-catchers will bring a sense of vertical strength in your mixed borders.

Complement your planting with low-growing and long-lasting grasses such as Hakonechloa macra (Hakone Grass), with its cascading mounds of gracefully arching leaves, or Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, with its arching creamy-yellow leaves adorned with fine dark green edges. Valuable for their stunning appeal, these highly decorative semi-evergreen grasses provide a lovely contrast with perennial plants.

Welcomed in this design is Stipa arundinacea or Anemanthele lessoniana (Pheasant’s Tail Grass), an elegant, evergreen grass with arching, narrow leaves that turn into attractive shades of copper, gold and bronze in the fall and throughout winter, adding bristling color to the dull winter landscape. Equally evergreen, Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears) is a wonderful plant, mostly grown for its pretty rosettes of velvety, silvery tongue-shaped leaves, resembling lamb’s ears and bringing interest to the border.

Among the perennial flowers selected for this mixed border are Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, prized for its extremely long blooming season, free flowering Aster x frikartii ‘Jungfrau’, and rosy-purple Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’.

Most plants are top performers and have been awarded prestigious awards. Fairly easy to replicate, this plant combination will glow for weeks. Enjoy!

Garden Information

Hardiness	8
Heat Zones	7 - 8
Climate Zones	14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Exposure	Full Sun
Season of Interest	Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall
Maintenance	Average
Water Needs	Average
Soil Type	Chalk, Loam, Sand
Soil pH	Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage	Moist but Well-Drained, Well-Drained
Characteristics	Cut Flowers, Plant of Merit, Showy
Tolerance	Deer
Attracts	Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Landscaping Ideas	Beds And Borders
Garden Styles	Informal and Cottage

Plants In This Garden

Cortaderia selloana 'Pumila' (Pampas Grass)

Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’ is a compact Pampas Grass that is perfect for mid-sized gardens. Quite showy, this South American native features magnificent, dense tussocks of arching, narrow gray-green leaves that are gracefully topped from late summer to mid-winter by huge, silky, creamy-white plumes.

Hardiness	6 - 10
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Late), Fall, Winter
Height	4' - 6' (120cm - 180cm)
Spread	3' - 4' (90cm - 120cm)

Stipa gigantea (Golden Oats)

Statuesque with tufts of foliage bursting with emerging seed heads in early summer

Hardiness	5 - 10
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall, Winter
Height	5' - 6' (150cm - 180cm)
Spread	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)

Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' (Sneezeweed)

Award-winner Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ is highly prized by gardeners for its extremely long blooming season and its unique and outstanding color

Hardiness	3 - 8
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall
Height	3' - 4' (90cm - 120cm)
Spread	1' - 2' (30cm - 60cm)

Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)

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!

Hardiness	7 - 11
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall
Height	3' - 6' (90cm - 180cm)
Spread	1' - 3' (30cm - 90cm)

Aster x frikartii 'Jungfrau' (Frikart's Aster)

Standing out in the late summer and fall garden when other plants are starting to fade, Aster x frikartii ‘Jungfrau’ (Frikart’s Aster) is one of the first Asters to bloom.

Hardiness	5 - 8
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Mid, Late), Fall
Height	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)
Spread	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)

Hakonechloa macra (Hakone Grass)

Hakonechloa macra (Hakone Grass) is a very beautiful perennial grass forming a cascading mound of gracefully arching, bright, rich-green leaves that ripple in the slightest breeze. Bringing alive any garden area, its soft foliage provides great fall color when it changes to exquisite copper-orange shades and persists into winter.

Hardiness	5 - 9
Exposure	Full Sun, Partial Sun, Shade
Seasons	Spring (Mid, Late), Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall
Height	1' - 2' (30cm - 60cm)
Spread	1' - 2' (30cm - 60cm)

Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus' (Coneflower)

Award-winner Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ is a sun-loving perennial that stands out with its bold, giant flowers whose rosy purple petals are held out flat rather than drooping like most coneflowers. An early bloomer, this compact coneflower provides a vibrant floral display in the garden from early to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost. Perfect for perennial borders, prairies, small gardens and containers.

Hardiness	3 - 8
Exposure	Full Sun
Seasons	Summer (Early, Mid, Late)
Height	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)
Spread	1' - 2' (30cm - 60cm)

Stachys byzantina (Lamb's Ears)

Stachys byzantina, commonly known as Lamb’s Ear, is a low-growing perennial with distinctive silver-gray, velvety foliage. It reaches 6-8 inches in height (15-20 cm), producing small, pink to purple flowers in early summer. Drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, it’s perfect for ground cover and borders.

Hardiness	4 - 8
Exposure	Full Sun, Partial Sun
Seasons	Spring (Early, Mid, Late), Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall, Winter
Height	6" - 2' (15cm - 60cm)
Spread	1' - 3' (30cm - 90cm)

Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' (Japanese Sedge)

One of the most striking golden Japanese Sedge, award-winning Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’ is a very distinctive ornamental grass with narrow arching creamy-yellow leaves adorned with fine dark green edges. Valuable for its stunning appeal, this highly decorative grass is one of the most beautiful ornamental grasses for the garden.

Hardiness	5 - 9
Exposure	Full Sun, Partial Sun
Seasons	Spring (Early, Mid, Late), Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall, Winter
Height	10" - 1' (25cm - 30cm)
Spread	1' - 2' (30cm - 60cm)

Stipa arundinacea (New Zealand Wind Grass)

Gorgeous, fast-growing, tough as nails, Stipa arundinacea or Anemanthele lessoniana (Pheasant’s Tail Grass) is an elegant and impressive ornamental grass that has become a favorite of landscape designers and gardeners. Semi-evergreen, with an open growth habit, it exhibits arching, dark green, thread-like leaves, that sway gracefully in the slightest breeze.

Hardiness	8 - 10
Exposure	Full Sun, Partial Sun
Seasons	Spring (Early, Mid, Late), Summer (Early, Mid, Late), Fall, Winter
Height	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)
Spread	2' - 3' (60cm - 90cm)

How Many Plants Do I Need?

Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas

Verbena Aster Stipa (Feather Grass) Stachys Helenium (Sneezeweed) Hakonechloa (Hakone Grass) Carex (Sedge)

Get Garden Design Ideas

Search Gardens

Alternative Plants to Consider

Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Hakone Grass)

Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’ (Frikart’s Aster)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Rubinglow’ (Coneflower)

Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ (Sneezeweed)

While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.