This month we're shining a spotlight on Mojave Sage. A native of the higher, drier hillsides of the Southwest, it's a shrubby, evergreen perennial that holds its structure and silvery color in the garden all year, not just during bloom season.

One of its standout features is its foliage: dense, aromatic, silver-gray leaves that read almost blue from a distance. In design terms, that "evergray" color is a workhorse — it cools down hot, sun-drenched borders and makes a quiet, textural backdrop for the smoky mauve-purple bracts and violet-blue flowers that top the plant from early summer well into fall.

In keeping with our definition of "low-maintenance," this plant asks for very little from human hands. It wants full sun, sharp drainage, and to be left mostly alone — overwatering is the fastest way to lose it. A light pruning after flowering keeps its shape tidy and prevents it from getting too woody, but beyond that, it's remarkably self-sufficient: low water, resistant to deer and rabbits thanks to its pungent foliage, and a magnet for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies for months at a stretch.

A close-up of Mojave Sage's mauve-purple bracts, holding their color long after the true flowers have faded.