Coneflowers come in white, pink, purple and even yellow, but it the purple that is most famous and lasting. If you want to stop traffic with spectacular blooms and little work from the gardener, plant purple cone flowers with golden black-eyed susans. For shade, there is nothing like tuberous begonias. Plants bear flowers that are luscious and velvety in the richest shades of deep to pastel pink, red, yellow, peach, champagne, white and orange. Often the blooms are so perfect visitors to the garden think they are artificial.
Tuberous begonias have a very long blooming season.
Hostas offer beauty for both shade and partial shade areas. These plants are treasured for their foliage, which is often spectacular. The long oval leaves come in all shades of green often mixed with white or ivory. Newer varieties in chartreuse are such cool looking plants. Although their tall stemmed blooms are secondary to the foliage, some of the blooms are very attractive and many are scented.