Laura is a garden phlox with big, domed clusters of violet-purple flowers, each floret marked with a white eye, carried on upright 2- to 3-foot stems in the heat of summer. It brings the cottage-garden look plus steady traffic from butterflies and hummingbirds.

Plant it in full sun to part sun in decent, well-drained soil, and give plants room for air to move around the stems. Water at the base rather than overhead, and deadhead spent heads to stretch the bloom season. Deer generally pass on it.