Common name:Missouri Evening Primrose
Botanical name:Oenothera macrocarpa

Missouri evening primrose is a sprawling perennial that typically grows 6 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches across, though through reseeding, it can spread farther. It has singe, 4-petaled, mildly fragrant, bright yellow flowers which open for only one day (usually open late afternoon and remain open until the following morning). Flowers are generally upward-facing, but sometimes rest on or touch the ground. Long spring to summer bloom period. Flowers are followed by somewhat unique, winged seed pods. Narrow, lance-shaped leaves. Stems are sometimes a vivid crimson red. Grow in rock gardens, perennial borders, parkstrips, and evening gardens. Many cultivars available.

Common name:Bull Grass
Botanical name:Muhlenbergia emersleyi

This Muhlenbergia is a cool season, clumping grass with blue-green, course foliage. It grows about 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. Its plume emerges late summer and is purple, though it turns a silvery white as the season progresses. The whole plant turns tan with the first hard frost. A southwest native, it is very heat and drought tolerant once established.

Common name:Soapweed
Botanical name:Yucca glauca

This clumping evergreen yucca has narrow leaves and a startling, 3- to 4 foot tall flower stalk. The fragrant flowers are pale green or greenish white. It is a tenacious weed in areas of the American West, but adds a touch of the desert to gardens. Soap can be made from its roots and the foliage is used in basket-making.

Common name:Hummingbird Trumpet; Fire Chalice
Botanical name:Zauschneria latifolia

Eye-catching as red lipstick, little red-orange trumpets stand out from leafy stems, creating a lovely sphere of color that lasts from mid-summer to frost. Native to droughty, rocky places at higher elevations, it also makes its home along waterways, indicating that a little additional water will be appreciated and used to extend the flowering season. Fire Chalice will form a slightly woody perennial base then die back to the ground with the coming of the first hard frosts. Grows 12 to 18 inches tall and about 24 to 36 inches wide.

Common name:Coronado Hummingbird Mint
Botanical name:Agastache aurantica 'Coronado'

Before domestication, Coronado Hyssop was a wildflower native to the southwest. Its foliage is has a bit of a licorice fragrance. It produces short spikes of yellowish-orange flowers that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, blooming June to September. It grows to about 12 to 15 inches tall and maybe as wide. Ideal for the perennial border or parkstrip.