Resembling the delicate Astilbe, Artemisia lactiflora (White Mugwort) is favored for its deep green foliage, its attractive plumes of creamy-white flowers and its elegant vertical lines. Unlike its Artemisia cousins whose yellow-gray flowers are inconspicuous, White Mugwort features lovely sprays of tiny flowers, on slightly arching but self-supporting stems from late summer to fall, atop toothed, deep-green leaves with silver undersides. This is an excellent selection for the garden thanks to its airy texture and is perfect for lightening the effect of brightly colored flowers in the landscape.

Grown for its magnificent silver-white foliage, Artemisia ludoviciana (White Sage) is a fast-spreading perennial that adds light and contrast to the landscape and combines well with almost everything. Typically growing in a bushy clump, 2-3' tall (60-90 cm) and as wide, its lance-shaped foliage is aromatic when bruised. Its tiny, yellow-gray flowers are inconspicuous and should be removed as they appear. Drought, deer, and rabbit tolerant!

Low-growing and compact, Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama) is a densely tufted, warm-season, ornamental grass noted for its intriguing inflorescences resembling tiny brushes. Suspended horizontally from only one side of the flowering stems, the flowers are red-tinted at first before they bleach to a straw color. On display from late spring until fall, they rise above a foliage mound of narrow, blue-gray, semi-evergreen leaves which usually turn golden brown in the fall, but sometimes develop pretty hues of orange and red. A great choice along sunny paths or in decorative containers, where the curious comblike flower spikes can be enjoyed.

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.

With seed heads resembling the medieval spiked clubs, Carex grayi (Mace Sedge) is a very distinctive ornamental grass that adds long-lasting interest to the garden. Rising above a pleated, grass-like, semi-evergreen foliage that is light green in full sun (darker in light shade), its conspicuous and unique mace-like flower spikes clearly draw attention in early summer and remain attractive well into winter. They emerge pale green and turn chocolate as they mature. Native to North America, this moisture-loving plant provides year-round visual interest and is a food source for many bird species. Drought tolerant, once established, Mace Sedge requires very little care. This ornamental grass will re-seed under satisfactory conditions.

One of the most shade tolerant ornamental grasses, Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) is a robust spreading deciduous grass. It is noted for its distinctive, drooping seed heads, in late summer, which hang from slightly arching stems and flutter when caressed by the softest of breezes. This grass provides good fall color with its seed heads turning purplish bronze and its bright green leaves turning a coppery color after frost. Excellent for dried flower arrangements. The beautiful arching lines of Chasmanthium latifolium help create magnificent and elegantly mobile combinations in the landscape. Easy to grow, it is pest-free, disease-free, requires very little care, and provides almost year-round interest

One of the few ornamental grasses that grow well in moderately shady locations, Deschampsia cespitosa (Tufted Hair Grass) is a clump-forming, cool season, semi-evergreen grass forming a low and dense tussock of narrow, dark green leaves, up to 18 in. tall (45 cm). In early summer, elegant clouds of delicate feathery panicles of purplish-green to tawny flowers emerge on arching stems rising 3 ft. (90 cm) above the foliage. They sway gracefully in the slightest breeze and persist well into winter. Spectacular when backlit by the rising or setting sun!

One of the best and most colorful of all Blue Fescue varieties, Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' is a wonderful dwarf ornamental grass, mostly grown for its superb, evergreen, bright silver-blue foliage. Densely tufted, the foliage of finely-textured, blade-like needles forms a neat mound topped by upright flower plumes in summer. At first, the flowers are colored like the foliage before maturing to light tan. Stunning when massed as a ground cover, Blue Fescue adds a superb color accent to the landscape all year around. Drought tolerant, deer resistant, it requires low maintenance and low watering

Well-behaved and highly charming, Blue Oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) is a showy ornamental grass that grows in attractive, round clumps of gracefully arching narrow steel blue leaves. Resembling Blue Fescue (Festuca Glauca) but significantly bigger, it is the best of the mid-sized blue-leaved grasses. Semi-evergreen, it requires little care while providing ornamental qualities much prized by gardeners. Delicate open panicles of small, straw-colored spikelets appear in early-mid summer, held about 2ft. (60 cm) above the foliage on slender, arching stems. Easily growing in a dense 2-3 feet tall (60-90 cm) fountain-like clump, this western Mediterranean native is salt and drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant.

One of the tallest switch grasses, Panicum virgatum 'Cloud Nine' forms an erect-stemmed and narrow clump of glaucous blue foliage in spring, which gets topped in mid to late summer with a profusion of finely-textured, airy golden flower panicles which hover over the foliage like an airy cloud. They persist well into fall before eventually turning beige, while the foliage turns a lovely dark golden shade in fall.

Requiring very little care and providing striking color as well as graceful movement in the garden or patio, Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' has become a real favorite among gardeners. How not to resist the spectacular rich burgundy foliage, the exceptionally long arching crimson plumes or the outstanding contrast provided with the surrounding plants and flowers? Fast grower, it typically grows in 3-5 ft. tall (90-150 cm) and 2-4 ft. wide (60-120 cm) rounded mounds. They are topped with soft and fluffy, red-burgundy flower plumes on arching stems from mid-summer until frost. Drought tolerant and ignored by deer!

Favored by landscapers for its tendency to grow in decorative bunches, Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed) is a fine-textured ornamental grass with long, narrow arching leaves forming attractive round tufts about 18 in. tall. The leaves range in color from a rich green hue in summer to golden with orange hues in the fall and fade to light bronze in winter. Foliage is resilient enough to resist flattening by snow, so it provides year-round interest. From late July to mid-September, a cloudy haze of tiny flower heads, noted for their unique coriander fragrance, elegantly rise up to 36 in. tall on slender stems. The small mature seeds drop to the ground in the fall, hence its common name of 'Dropseed'.

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.

Grown for its handsome and eye-catching foliage, Hakone Grass (Hakonechloa macra) is a long-lived, tough, ornamental grass that, unlike most grasses, loves moist shady conditions. Native to Japan, its foliage forms attractive, loose cascading mounds of gracefully arching, slender leaves that ripple in the slightest breeze. Ranging from solid green, to bright gold to creamy variegated throughout the spring and summer, the soft foliage changes to exquisite copper-orange shades in the fall as cooler weather sets in. Hakone Grass is invaluable for adding multiseason interest, color and texture to the shade garden.

Ridiculously easy-to-grow and long-lived, Hostas (Plantain Lilies) are shade-loving perennials that are highly prized by gardeners for their elegance and attractive foliage. Native to eastern Asia, these low-maintenance foliage plants are fabulous for shady areas and combine beautifully with other shade perennials. The world of Hostas is incredibly rich in terms of size, color, texture, leave shape. There are thousands of Hosta cultivars available reflecting their immense popularity with gardeners, and new varieties are legion. Growing from 6 inches to 3 feet tall (15-90 cm), the attractive foliage is topped in early-mid summer with taller funnel-shaped or flared flowers, in shades of white, lavender, or purple. Some flowers are even sweetly fragrant.