Cultivated since the 19th century, award-winner Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) provides a lovely finish to a border or a path edge and blends beautifully with most perennials. This clump-forming perennial forms dense, leafy mounds of scallop-edged, toothed, densely hairy, light green leaves which nicely retain moisture beads after the rain.

Iris sibirica 'Caesar's Brother' (Siberian Iris) is a clump-forming perennial with stunning, deep, velvety violet flowers from late spring to early summer. Introducing drama in the garden, each sturdy flower stalk produces many dainty blossoms, well above the foliage of upright, grassy, swordlike leaves. After blooming, the grass-like foliage remains fresh-looking and attractive all season. Spectacular when planted in groups, this lovely Siberian Iris adds drama and vertical interest to the landscape.

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.

Award-winner Sedum 'Herbstfreude' or 'Autumn Joy' is probably one of the best of all border sedums. Vigorous, hardy, carefree, good-looking, with a season of interest lasting more than 6 months from early summer until well into winter, who could resist? Easy to grow, this standout perennial forms a 2 feet tall (60 cm) clump of thick, fleshy blue-green foliage topped with flower buds resembling broccoli. Gradually, these densely clustered buds will reveal tiny, star-like soft raspberry pink flowers in mid to late summer, which will softly change to rich rose and then coppery-rust in the fall as they die.

Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) is a wonderful evergreen perennial, mostly grown for its rich rosettes of showy, velvety, silvery tongue-shaped leaves, resembling lamb's ears and bringing interest to the border. Pink-purple flower spikes appear in late spring or early summer. Their fuzzy flowers add textural interest, but cutting them off promotes foliage growth and improves the plant's vigor.

One of the earliest hardy Salvia to bloom, multiple award-winner Sage 'Mainacht' or 'May Night' (Salvia x sylvestris) has been in cultivation for 30 years and has become quite a standard. Extremely showy, it displays stunning spikes of rich, violet-blue flowers which pleasantly contrast darker bracts. They appear in late spring and bloom for weeks, often throughout the summer.

Cultivated for its culinary uses and ornamental garden appeal, Allium schoenoprasum (Chives) is a small bulbous perennial forming a dense clump of thin, narrowly cylindrical, grass-like, dark green leaves. Blooming in late spring to early summer, attractive, pale lavender, rounded umbels are borne on erect stems atop the foliage. Both flowers and leaves are edible. The flowers are perfect in salads, while the leaves are widely used to add mild onion flavor to sauces, stews, mashed vegetables, fish, poultry, egg dishes, and salads. Since their delicate flavor is easily destroyed by heat, add chives during the last few minutes of cooking time, or scatter them on a finished dish to garnish.