My thoughts went straight to Astilbe, one of my newer favorites.
When I lived in Cambridge MA we called Tradescantia simply "nasty purple things." And I love purple, but these things ate other plants for dessert, it ate everything. When I later learned the name and saw them for SALE I was astonished. It must really love zone 5..
Lychnis coronaria, Rose Campion, is another velvety one with brilliant bloom.
