Grass-Leaf Barbara's Button is a southeastern native that earns its place at the water's edge. Through most of the year it holds a neat, low rosette of grass-like green leaves that work as quiet foreground filler, letting taller neighbors take center stage. Then, in late summer and into fall, it sends up sweetly fragrant pink blooms that seem almost too delicate for the season — a small but genuine reward for gardeners patient enough to wait.

This is a plant for wet feet: it thrives in moist to wet soils and does especially well near ponds, bogs, and rain gardens in zones 7 through 10. Its heat resistance makes it reliable through the long southern summer, and the bee-friendly flowers add pollinator value at a time of year when nectar sources are thinning out. It asks for moisture and returns beauty.