Ogon sweet flag makes small, bright fans of gold-and-green striped foliage, evergreen and only about a foot tall. It reads like an ornamental grass but behaves better, staying put in neat clumps that gradually widen into a glowing edging or groundcover.

It thrives where drainage is poor: soggy beds, pond margins, downspout runs, even shallow standing water. Sun to part sun brings out the strongest gold. It's also a reliable spiller-filler for mixed containers that get watered often, and deer and rabbits ignore it.