Surreal-looking, intensely blue globes are perched atop sturdy stalks lined with winsome, jagged-edged gray-green foliage. The perfectly round blooms and statuesque bearing can be backlit by the late afternoon sun and planted en masse amid spiky Muhlenbergia rigens and the dark domes of Angelica gigas.

Blooms July–September

Size: 4' 0" high x 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Round, pearly-white blooms sojourn on well-branched steadfast stalks that aren’t quite as tall as Echinops ‘Blue Glow’s. Thistle-like narrow green leaves flash downy gray-green flip sides, while the distinctive flowers proudly illuminate a drift of Schizachyrium ‘MinnblueA’.

Blooms July–early September

Size: 3-1/3' high x 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Listed in Jeff Cox’s Perennial All-Stars as one of 150 top perennial performers, ‘Taplow Blue’ attracts gardeners, bees and butterflies alike. Branched, leafy pewter-hued stems gracefully curve upwards, attired in handsome, deeply cut thistle-like grey-green leaves with niveous backsides. Surmounting strong stems for several months, the powdery steel-blue spherical heads make an extraordinary presentation, especially when massed or positioned alongside softer looking flowers such as Solidago ‘Fireworks’ and Aster ‘Bridal Veil’.

Blooms July–September

Size: 4' 0" – 5' 0" high x 20" – 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Entrancing gardeners, florists and honey bees, ‘Platinum Blue’ presents an architectural spectacle of imposing steel-blue blossoms bolstered by fuzzy, branching, stiff white stems. The cut-flower-perfect spheres are packed with petite starry blooms above deeply-divided grayish green foliage with marble-hued flip sides. This handsome perennial can lodge in a border amid Phlox ‘David’s Lavender’ and Monarda ‘Purple Rooster’, where its nervy bent tolerates poor soil, coastal conditions and periodic dry spells.

Blooms July–early September

Size: 2-1/2' – 3' 0" high x 15" – 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Brimming with innate artistry, this durable perennial unleashes a pollinator’s mecca of stunning, golf ball-sized dark blue blooms. Stiff silver-laced stems soldier straight up, producing deeply chiseled, spine-tipped green leaves, whose flip sides sport a mercury-hued tomentose. Ideal for juxtaposing against Sorghastrum ‘Indian Steel’, Phlox ‘Jeana’ and Verbascum ‘Wedding Candles’, clump-forming ‘Veitch’s Blue’ grows slightly smaller than the species, while its flowers are more profuse and a deeper blue.

Blooms July–September

Size: 3' 0" – 3-1/2' high x 18" – 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Topping erect mahogany-hued stems, snow-white balls provide a stately element heightened by prickly frost-imbued greenery. Planted with compelling companions like Aconitum, Digitalis ‘Gigantea Gelber Herold’ and Veronicastrum, its noble orbs appear to glow.

Blooms July–September

Size: 2-1/2' – 3' 0" high x 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.