Always Afternoon has bloomed well for me; first photo is from 2018; may have been its second year in this bed.
2021, beginning to be overrun by the adjacent Baptisia
2022
Color from year to year seems to be reasonably consistent, though I have one photo from 2021, not posted, where the bloom is much more purple and I am not sure if that was due to the camera, or the bloom being more shaded. I have had no rust problem. Even when the deer have munched it to the ground, it has recovered quickly. I'm not sure what the bloom season has been, suspect it would be a lot longer without the deer.