Helene von Stein is the lamb's ear for the South. Its silver, felted leaves are about twice the size of the common kind, and it rarely flowers, which keeps the planting looking clean. That big silver texture cools off hot-colored beds and flatters nearly everything planted next to it.

Full sun and sharp drainage are the whole recipe. It shrugs off drought, deer, and rabbits, and it holds up in our humidity far better than older lamb's ears. Shear off any tattered foliage in late winter and it fills right back in.