Enchanted Eve, from the Li'l Bang series, is a pint-sized coreopsis: a tight mound under a foot tall covered in bicolor daisies, dark red at the center washing out to golden yellow at the tips. It blooms in waves from spring through fall, an easy front-of-the-border workhorse.

Full sun and well-drained soil suit it; once established it takes dry spells in stride. Deer and rabbits skip it, while bees and butterflies do not. Shear lightly between flushes to reset the mound and trigger the next round of bloom.