Every catalog should show photos of a plant not only in its prime, but when past its prime. Here is Inula magnifica at its peak and in its less-than-pretty death throes in an unfortunately prominent spot in the author's garden.

WHEN WE'RE tempted by all those fresh, baby plants at the nursery, we don't pause to wonder how they'll look in their waning hours. We try to picture flower color and eventual size, but rarely do we consider the visual impact of a plant's death throes.

But plants have a life span: They leaf out, flower, reach their peak and then fade away. And just like humans, some progress through this cycle far more gracefully than others. How plants look as they fade is every bit as important as their appearance when budded up.

We live in a climate where summer and autumn gardens can be as lovely as springtime ones, if we remember to site plants with consideration for how they look throughout the year. I have a towering Inula magnifica front and center in the rockery, where its yellow, daisy-like flowers and soft, broad leaves are magnificent in mid-summer. Then I, and everyone who passes by, can't avoid the less-than-elegant look of its huge, withering carcass for the next several months. This is very poor siting; the Inula should be at the back of a border, where it can shine during the glory of its bloom and where its slow and messy demise will be shielded by other plants.

Unless you are out there with clippers for hours every day, destroying all evidence of death and decline, you probably don't want the ugly faders in prominent spots. Constant trimming back results in cute little bumps of plants, which is boring. It is only as plants live out their yearly cycle that they take on character, height and shape. A garden is far the richer for seed heads and the mellowing colors of plants past their prime, and once they're over the hill, aging plants serve as a buffet for the birds.

Now In Bloom Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a bushy evergreen shrub native to the East Coast that enjoys the same moist, acid soil as rhododendrons. In late spring it is covered with clusters of turban-shaped, dark-pink buds that open to beautiful little star-shaped flowers.

White-flowered plants, such as jasmine and pale roses, are notoriously bad faders. As white flowers turn brown they dangle limply on the plant like soiled handkerchiefs. Because white flowers at their prime are so lovely, we put up with this from them, but perhaps you could thread a jasmine with another kind of vine, or surround white roses with plenty of colorful perennials to distract from the less-than-attractive stages.

And what about sweet peas? Nothing is more appealing in flower - or looks more past when the ratty pods hang limply on the mildewed vines. Not a pretty picture. Nor are poppies, whose luscious bloom is quickly followed by ugly withering. I've never seen a plant go from beautiful to gross as quickly as a bearded iris. Hardy fuchsias have a great many virtues (long-blooming, drought-tolerant), but they're nothing but a pile of dead sticks once frost hits them. And you need to leave their above-ground parts intact until April, so be sure and tuck them into a part of the garden where you won't have to look at them from November until mid-spring.

There are plenty of flowers that perform well in all life stages to fill in the front of the border spots. Knautia macedonica is a fine example, with ruby button flowers that look as charming after they've bloomed as when in bud. So do chocolate cosmos. I leave the heads of allium to dry in the garden, where they lend a strong presence and intriguing texture long after their color bleaches to buff. Hydrangea blossoms are more interesting as the weather cools and they take on tinges of mauve, plum and bronze. The tall sedums change from pink to bronze over many months, and Stipa gigantea's tall, corn-colored flower spikes grace the garden from June through late winter. Other good faders include Verbenas, Eryngiums, Gaura, bee balm (Monarda), Phlomis, Rudbeckia, meadow rue (Thalictrum) and yarrow (Achillea).

Valerie Easton, a horticultural librarian who writes about plants and gardens for Pacific Northwest magazine, is the co-author of "Artists in Their Gardens" from Sasquatch Books. Her e-mail address is vjeaston@aol.com.