Rose Campion
This cottage garden favorite is an all-around great plant-- deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, pest-free, and beautiful. Low rosettes of silver leaves the first year are striking foliage plants. In late spring to early summer the second year, they produce flower stalks to 3 feet that are just as silvery as the leaves, producing a beautiful tracery effect in the garden, especially against a dark background like shrubs or fruit trees. The flowers are a highly-saturated deep purple-red. or magenta, which is set off perfectly by the silver foliage. I use these along a path, where they beckon the eye forward and seem to glow at night. They make flower stalks just after the columbines finish, so I interplant them. When the columbines start to look ratty, the rose campion covers them. They could do the same for poppies, bulbs or other early bloomers. Great with roses, larkspur, feverfew, cornflowers, and other casual flowers. Seeds need cold-conditioning, so planting in fall is recommended. Full sun to partial shade. Mine are along a path between fruit trees and it's perfect. In cool or coastal areas, they'll want full sun. Lychnis coronaria 50 seeds