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A plant this diminutive just can't be this sassy but Ione Hecker is obviously the English equivalent of Dolly Parton because this is a lot in a little package! Finely cut gray leaves in a dense mound with surprisingly large flowers that are a blue-hued pink with rich fuchsia striations leading to a magenta purple eye. A class act in a trough or rock garden and it is remarkably hardy. This was selected by Ione Hecker from a batch of seedlings raised by E. B. Anderson and is a hybrid between O. laciniata and O. enneaphylla.

Silver Wings Evening Primrose. Narrow grayish leaves in a low branched rosette of leaves are perfect with the large 4" yellow flowers that open as the sun sets. Plant these where you can enjoy them during the evening wine stroll through the garden and then follow up with your morning coffee mosey. Good drainage, lean soil and sun. Well-suited for the rock garden, this Kansas and Nebraska native can take some dry.

Perfect fine texture with a silver sheen all year long. This is a gorgeous evergreen that further delights in the summer with small white flowers. Pinch it if you want it bushy and don't treat it too nice - it prefers a leaner soil that drains well. Tolerant of dry when established and likes full sun.

Black Mondo Grass. One of the classiest ornamentals and maybe the best for providing color and textural contrast, this can find a home in any garden. Fairly drought tolerant but thriving in more moist situations, this has evergreen (or everblack) leaves with pink flowers and shiny black pearl seeds. The cultivar names 'Nigrescens', 'Niger', and 'Black Dragon' have been very recently subsumed into 'Kokuryu'.

Pewter Moon Evening Primrose. A fine very large flowered form with green to gray leaves and reddish stems. Big rounded golden yellow flowers open at dusk and carry on well into the next day. A good hardy and drought tolerant plant that works it in the rock garden or Garden of Neglect. Worth growing just to watch the Sphinx Moths go delirious in the gloaming. Good drainage.