the thing I noticed most about the Agra statues when I come up on the nursery is that they're really popular with the bees and the other thing I notice about them is that they seem to be in flower for ages usually from about midsummer right through virtually until the end of autumn the thing I like about a ghost a cheese is they've got this distinctly upright habit and that means that they add visual interest and impact structurally impact in the border either mixed or herbaceous borders things that have a looser more informal sort of shape they really help bind it together now they originate from dry stony sites so they do like a hot sunny spot and they like soil that's relatively rich but free draining and free draining is particularly important with these plants and that's because some of them are not quite fully Hardy and what they will really dislike is the combination of cold temperatures and winter wet or any wet for any length of time but particularly in winter it's a really big no-no so freely draining soil and lots of Sun I also like to tuck mine in each year with a generous layer of mulch around the crown as that just helps protect the roots and insulate them a little bit more and what I also tend to do is do not cut them back immediately after the flowers have faded but rather I keep mine in the garden with a continue offering a visual presence until early spring and then I'll cut them right back so there we are I guess that cheese the bees love them and thirty why