The plants listed below are widely available at retail outlets across the country. They're also recognized within the perennial plant industry as well as by gardeners across America as reliable and sturdy.

'Sprite' Astilbe -- a diminutive hybrid astilbe with glossy dark green foliage. It produces sprays of shell pink flowers in midsummer shade gardens.

'Moonbeam' Coreposis -- small, eight-petaled pale yellow flowers grace the tips of thin stems covered with narrow leaves. It blooms all summer in full sun.

'Palace Purple' Heuchera -- boasts handsome deep purple foliage all summer in partial shade. It bears tiny, pale bluish-white flowers clustered at the ends of wiry stems in spring.

Creeping Phlox -- neat, deep green foliage on creeping stems mats to cover the ground in woodland settings. In spring it produces clusters of small florets in white, blue, or pink.

'Sunny Border Blue' Veronica -- offers a strong, vertical accent for the garden and bears spikes of rich violet-blue flowers in summer. It does best in a sunny site.

'Magnus' Purple Coneflower -- jaunty, daisylike flowers with droopy purple petals bloom in midsummer when many other perennials are idle. It thrives in full sun.

'Goldsturm' Black-eyed Susan -- provides billows of late-summer daisylike golden blossoms with dark centers on coarse, hairy stems.