How large is the area planned?

Bee Balm (Monarda) add a burst of color, wonderful for cutting and attractive for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. There are a variety of color combinations available.

what color/... whats your color palette if any ...

i just plant more flowers.. and dont really care.. so questions like this sorta mystify me ...

bottom line.. whatever ends up in my cart the next time i go to the nursery.. lol ..

ken

ps: and if it doesnt work out.. i move one or the other in fall ... its part of the fun ... some i even just throw in the street and be glad to be done with them ... lol ..

Coreopsis is one of my favorites. daisies, beardtongue, jupiters beard, geranium.

Blue lobelia

Russian sage

Salvias

Ken when I go in a nursery I tend to over buy a lot! And then I have no room to put plants. However I'm thinking of bringing out my flower beds and putting in pavers instead of grass. Small back yard anyway, why not fill it with plants and bushes instead of grass?

Very striking with Pardandas.

My full sun perennial beds contain all manner of echinacea, daylilies, asters. bearded Iris, coreopsis, yarrow, monarda, geums, rudbeckia, allium, sage, Mount Atlas Daisy, baptisia, small spirea, diervilla, Pardancanda, and hardy hibiscus.

echinacea always look well in a naturalistic setting with grasses and airy plants such as angelica, verbena bonariensis, bronze fennel, chicory and gaura (although the last one might not be appropriate for 5b)

If bringing pollinators is important to you Echinacea and Eryngium is the winner in my garden. They also look wonderful together.

surprised agastache hasn't been mentioned. A. Blue Fortune is remarkably long blooming.

So true, cecily! I planted Blue Fortune last year and was so surprised at how long it bloomed. It’s such a wonderful perennial!

I saw this photo the other day on gardenista - so I second Russian Sage.

I love it with liatris:

This is one of my favorite coneflower companions.