Oxalis vulcanicola 'Zinfandel' (Volcanic sorrel)

This hybrid has petite green-and-cream variegated foliage with a hint of pink on the undersides. It produces chartreuse and apple green bicolored bracts on airy stems.

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True black does not exist in the horticultural world, but black mondo grass is as close as one gets. The grasslike foliage contrasts beautifully with variegated woodland plants and with its own pink flowers produced on upright racemes in midsummer. The rhizomatous clumps spread slowly but are evergreen in mild winters or in the warmer portions of its range.

Black mondo grass has straplike, shiny black foliage and grows in adorable little tufts. The newer leaves start out with a greenish hue but soon age to black. The flowers are bell shaped and can be pink, pale violet, or white, and they give way to fleshy black seeds that often remain on the plant throughout the winter. This perennial spreads slowly through underground stolons and is extraordinary when paired with chartreuse foliage. It is great in a shady container planting.

This species is similar to E. myrsinites, but its habit is first erect before spreading, and its steely blue leaves are more narrow and pointed. It also bears terminal yellow bracts from early spring to summer.

This native of the American Southwest and Mexico forms an evergreen shrub or shrubby perennial with dark, glossy leaves that are small (but slightly larger than most microphyllas) and softly toothed. It blooms off and on all summer, and again, more vigorously, in late summer and autumn, in blossoms of cherry-red. Its attractive foliage cloaks the plant to the ground, so it is well suited to the front of the border. It can grow to 4 feet tall and twice as wide.