Siskiyou Pink gaura throws airy wands of small pink flowers above a loose, open clump, and they bob with the slightest breeze from late spring until frost. The plant stays light and see-through rather than dense, so it reads as movement more than mass.

Clay is the problem here, not the heat, so plant it on a slope or in a raised bed where water runs off rather than sitting around the crown. Water it through the first summer; after that it fends for itself. If it sprawls by midsummer, cut it back hard and it will come back fuller.