Considered by most growers as the loveliest Globe Thistle, Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue' is an excellent rebloomer that produces abundant, dark violet-blue flowers at the end of gracefully curving, branched, silvery stems. Blooming from mid-summer to early fall, the bold and ornamental, steel blue globe-shaped flowers (the size of a golf ball) rise above the foliage of sharply divided, dark green leaves, covered in down beneath. Adds outstanding contrast, interest, and color to the summer garden while being trouble-free and low maintenance.

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.

Long-lived and drought tolerant, award-winner Sedum 'Matrona' is a fabulous sight in the landscape with its masses of pale pink flowers, densely packed in large umbrella-shaped flowerheads, and showing off atop sturdy ruby stems that keep them perfectly upright, coupled with the fleshy, purple-veined and purple-tinged leaves. Easy to grow, this standout perennial forms an 18-24 in. tall (45- 60 cm) clump of thick, fleshy gray-green foliage topped with flower buds resembling broccoli. Gradually, these densely clustered buds will reveal tiny, star-like pink flowers in mid to late summer, which will softly change to mauve-pink, then chestnut-bronze in fall as they die