Tall daisies, great domes of Joe-Pye Weed and fluffy plumes on perennial grasses, the garden sways and becomes a sizable presence, this is the garden of high summer. Possibly a descriptive term, or rather a reference to the long days and higher temperatures, either way it's apt. One imagines sipping from a tall glass in the shade, a mint julep with a fresh sprig of mint or ice tea with a stalk of lemon grass as a swivel stick. It's not the time of year that we ponder how good the bones are in the garden, they're all hidden under great vascular stalks. Bones are for winter, stark and defined, great effort and expense is employed to have a good winter garden. Summer is full of color and motion, the opposite of a winter garden. Plan for it, the high summer garden is easy to create and rewarding in so many ways. Besides the presence of great plants, one has visiting hummingbirds and butterflies, movement all day long.

Some high summer perennials require a masterful hand when it comes to control. Left to their own devices, space is garnered by hefty perennials, the whimpier plants are eaten alive. Many of the rudbeckias are guilty of this. No shy spreaders they move along via seed and rhizomes. Yet as much as they would like to have the flower beds all to themselves, they are much more attractive with company. One must insist on socialization. In their midst plant summer phlox, ornamental grasses and Joe-Pye weed. There are countless other options, consider the purple leafed sedums, Physocarpus 'Diablo', and Eupatorium 'Chocolate' for dark leafed companions. They borrow from the dark center of the central cone and echo it throughout the garden.

High summer is also eupatorium time. Many remain showy into late September. Aside from the eupatorium known as Joe-Pye weed (dubium, fistulosum, purpureum and maculatum) there is Eupatorium hyssopifolium with white heads that open on dense horizontal umbels. There is E. coelestinum or hardy ageratum. Just like the annual ageratum, the blue flowers are beautiful and mix well with all things. They romp via subsurface rhizomes, coming up in any open spaces and bloom as high summer is ending and night temperatures begin to cool.

As July ends and August begins the hardy hibiscus flower. Their oversized flowers are often matched with gorgeous foliage, particularly on Hibiscus 'Kopper King' and H. coccineus. Not fond of dry soil, plan their placement and their partners. Many a suburban gardener has plunked a hardy hibiscus in the lawn with only a circle of mulch at its feet - no - they need company. Adored by Japanese beetles, the mix of companions is often enough to confuse the enemy. Underplant with Panicum 'Dewey Blue', Euphorbia 'Chameleon', Eupatorium 'Purple Bush' and the late flowering daylily 'Orchid Corsage', this my friend is unforgettable!

If the best of winter gardens is full of good bones then I suspect that the summer garden is about muscle, cartilage and sinew. They wrap around the good bones, some capable of becoming the fat of the garden rather than the tone. Use your muscle to tame them and keep a balance. Both you and your garden will look all the better for it.

Karen Rexrode is owner of Windy Hill Plant Farm (703) 327-4211