Gardens, like good short stories and movie scripts, need climactic moments to give them punch. Delphiniums, foxgloves, hollyhocks, and verbascum provide the perfect accents, punctuating beds and borders with statuesque candles of bloom.

Plant these beauties at the rear of a border, where they'll make colorful backdrops for shorter plants. Cluster them in the middle of island beds so they'll anchor lower-growing plantings that sweep around them. Or, for drama, fill a bed with a small forest of towering blooms.

Fall is the time to scout catalogs and nurseries for these inspirational vertical bloomers. In mildest climates you can sow seeds of biennials now for handsome plants next summer and blooms the following year (some biennials may even bloom the first year). In cold or wet climates, wait until spring or summer to sow seed.

In all but the coldest climates, put established nursery-grown biennials or perennials in the ground now, and they'll have the cool winter months to become established. Then, as the season progresses and plants grow taller, you will be amazed by your perfectly punctuated beds.