Another tall, lanky plant I love is a meadow rue called Thalictrum rochebrunianum, or lavender mist. My go-to flower book is "Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants," by Steve M. Still. This is an 800 ...

Biennial plants take two seasons to flower (and die post-bloom). Thalictrum rochebrunianum produces tall, strong stems topped with wispy blooms that "float above whatever composition you put it in," ...

A tall, herbaceous perennial with lacy foliage and upright, near-black stems to 2m bearing generous sprays of fluffy, bright purplish-pink flowers in mid- to late summer ...

turning pink in autumn, three-pinnate leaves, up to 45cm long, of blue-green leaflets, and dense panicles up to 20cm long of sepal-less flowers composed of pale yellow stamens and pistils, in summer; ...