The foliage is fernlike and warm brown in color.
It sends its flowers up on 5- to 6-foot stems in late summer.
Consider planting it with yellow variegated plants, such as Japanese forestgrass orhostas.
For the best foliage color, plant in full sun to light shade.
In deep shade, it tends to become leggy.
Zones 59
Learn more about bugbane.
‘Blue Fortune’ is one of the easiest plants you’ll ever grow.
All it needs is full sun and well-drained soil.
In return, it’ll bloom from midsummer to fall.
The blossoms are made up of many tiny lavender flowers that willattract butterflies and other pollinators.
The foliage has a delicious licorice fragrance when you brush it or crush a leaf in your hand.
An upright grower, ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop reaches two to three feet in height and never needs staking.
It combines easily with other sun lovers, such as coneflowers and ornamental grasses.
Zones 410
See more about ‘Blue Fortune’ anise hyssop.
Frikart’s Aster (Asterxfrikartii’Monch')
Frikart’s aster deserves a place in every garden.
It flowers in a beautiful lavender-blue shade surrounding a button of yellow.
It blooms for an exceeding long time, July to October, on stems two to three feet tall .
This aster flowers so heavily that the stems may bend under the weight, especially after a rain.
It’s a good idea to stake the plant, and it’s worth the trouble.
Frikart’s aster is a treasure for its ability to perk up a tired late-summer garden.
Plant this perennial in good, fertile soil in full sun.
In summer, the foliage turns yellow-green before making its deep yellow statement in fall.
The white flowers grow on large panicles and later produce long beanlike seedpods.
Reaching 15-18 feet tall, it’s the perfect size for residential gardens.
This tree delivers the best color when planted infull sunor part shade.
It does well in foundation plantings or as a focal point in the sun or part shade.
Water the shrub regularly in the summer.
As the days become warmer, ‘Gold Heart’ will begin to go dormant.
Plant this perennial with hostas or ferns that will fill in the gaps later in the season.
Zones 39
See more about ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart.
It’s an astonishing sight in full bloom.
Grow it in full sun or part shade, in moist but well-drained soil.
It’s also best to plant dove trees where they’ll be protected from strong winds.
This classic combination has won it several plant awards.
The wide-spreading evergreen makes a wonderful groundcover.
It prefers full sun or partial shade.
Delicate, airy seed heads float above the two-foot-tall foliage in midsummer.
This ornamental grass may be grown in partial shade, or in full sun if it gets enough moisture.
The long-lasting foliage works well in flower arrangements as a replacement for other greens.
Zones 58
Helenium’Moerheim Beauty'
This is a late-summer beauty with rusty red petals.
Butterflies flock to it, but deer tend to leave it alone.
This perennial makes wonderfulcut flowers.
Plant it in full sun with average to moist soil.
You’ll never need to prune this shrub, as it will only grow about three feet tall.
Plant the shrub in small groups for a big splash of spring color.
It also does well in decorative pots on the patio.
Mountain laurel prefers moist, well-drained soil in full sun or part shade.
It will not thrive in excessively hot areas.
Zones 49
Sourwood(Oxydendrum arboreum)
What isn’t fabulous about this tree?
Plant sourwood alone as an accent.
The foliage on this 20- to 25-foot-tall tree is lustrous and deep green.
The flowers bloom in August, smothering the foliage in chains of white blossoms that look like lilies-of-the-valley.
Sourwood prefers sun to part shade and acidic soil.
The new foliage is scarlet red, slowly changing to a bluish-green summer color.
As fall days become cooler, the foliage changes again to bright red, but doesn’t drop.
Stems of small white flowers are a bonus.
It’s easy to grow in full sun or part shade.
From a base of narrow, arching foliage, gigantic flower stems reach from six to eight feet tall.
In June, the silvery-purple flowers open, turning golden when ripe.
They’re excellent for dried flower arrangements.
This grass makes a stately specimen plant.
Giant needlegrass may also be planted in large groups or on embankments for erosion control.
Plant it in full sun in well-drained soil.
It won’t tolerate wet soil, and is drought-tolerant once established.
‘Tor’ grows into a perfectly round shrub about two to three feet tall and wide.
The name likely comes from the Gaelic wordtorr,meaning hill or mound.
White flowers cover the shrub in spring, attracting butterflies.
‘Tor’ makes a great small hedge and looks wonderful planted in groups.
The deer-resistant shrub also works well in foundation plantings and shrub borders.
It’s easy to grow in well-drained soil in full sun.
It eventually reaches 60 to 70 feet tall and 40 to 50 feet wide.
Dark green foliage turns to soft yellow, orange, and russet in the autumn.
Mature trees have an interesting bark pattern that adds another season of beauty.
Zelkova is prized for its tolerance to high wind, pollution, drought, and compacted soils.
