It's a very prolific and blooms over a long period, but you can see that most of the color is at the top third of the plant. That makes it more of a back ground plant. As fall progresses, the seed heads turn brown and get heavy. I cut them back to encourage more blooms. Not easy, I should add, since I'm vertically challenged!

The stems are tough, thick and long, and Herbie tends to fall over onto his shorter neighbors as the season progresses. You can see that the one on the right is starting to "lean". In time some of these long, heavy branches will be on the ground. This gets much more pronounced as the stalks themselves get heavier with buds and seed heads.

Nothing much bothers Herbie in my yard. It doesn't spread as others have cautioned. I think its growth habit depends on where it's planted. My long garden is very wide, slopes down to the river and is in full sun. This plant doesn't get stressed out by heat and dryness, but Herb is on an irrigation system.

It is pretty, though!