Laura is a garden phlox with rounded heads of fragrant purple-pink flowers, each bloom marked with a crisp white eye, carried on stems around 2 to 3 feet tall. It flowers in the heart of summer and pulls in butterflies and hummingbirds day after day.

Plant it in full sun and fertile soil, spacing plants for air circulation to keep the foliage clean through humid Alabama summers. Water at ground level rather than overhead, and cut spent heads back to a side shoot to keep bloom coming into late summer.