Strange Plant Combinations

Well--most of them are perennials down here anyways. I got to thinking this afternoon that I really need to put some thought into what plants I'm putting where next year. Here's something from this mornin' for you guys up in the snow tonight to look at....
Strange combination #1: Clitorea ternatea double blue vine, mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida--just starting to bloom), Angelonia purple with white stripes, angelonia dusty pink colored, lady in red salvia, bat faced cuphea. Oh and let's not forget the redneck yard art; got to have redneck yard art in a Texas garden.

Here's bizarre garden combination's #2: Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (Fall Aster--native from Texas to Montana and east to New York and down to Miss, Ark, and Louisiana), native lantana, pink zinnias (swizzle cherry), the bottom half of a clerondendrum ugandense shrub, and a bunch of pots.....

Oh so cute.. ;0)

Another view of the clitorea ternatea double blue, mexican mint marigold, and the Angelonia purple with white stripes. This one might actually look OK when the mexican mint marigold opens up a little more.

Oh thank you garden6! =)

Here's a wider shot of the back yard; I think the yellow hose and the white bag of mulch in the middle of the Louisiana bed really make the shot--lol

That's the huge clerondendrum ugandense in the middle.

Hey BigCityAL--want to take up a collection for a design course for me?
Debbie

How do you get your Lady in Red salvia so big?! Mine isn't half that tall. Love the combination of colors.

Hart--I think its the heat. It's just now below 90 and its been that way since about May1st.
Also we've had real good rainfall this summer; which is normal for us but we've been in a drought for about the last 5 years. West and North of us in Texas are--we got lucky this year. I'm about 60 miles from the coast. I have a feeling next year they are going to be coming up everywhere. I hear they are more pink from seed. I'm just going to have to make sure I mulch that area about 8" deep this January. It freezes every year here about Christmas and occaisionally thru Feb. So they will definitely die.
Debbie

Maybe it is the rain. We've had plenty of heat all summer but mine are finally getting a little taller now that we're getting a lot of rain but temps are a lot cooler. Did I read somewhere recently that they will come back up if they're mulched?

I do have to say they're one of the nicest annuals I've grown in a long time. Such a bold shade of red.

I thought they were annuals Hart. I've noticed a lot of the salvia's need a good water supply, with just a few species being the exception.

It is an annual, but I think I read somewhere that it might come back up in the spring if you mulch it. I did a google search and found a Houston gardening page that said it would overwinter there in mild winters. So it sounds like mulch is a real good idea for you.

Very nice Down South Debbie. I needed the giant ladybug for my aphids and mites this year. What is the mexican mint marigold one? I have not heard of that. You can copy my landscape design - figure out what plants you like the most and jam as many of those in as you can.

trying to find you something to post, my neighbor's bed I maintain is a mix of annuals,perennials and self seeders.

Hart I'm kinda West of Houston out on the prairie--we freeze a lot more than down in town. Not near so much concrete to retain the heat. I'm really in zone 8b but the Texas people hounded me forever to change the zone number. Of course the ones hounding me are 25 miles south of me and much closer to the ocean. But that's beside the point. If you are talking about Bob Beyer's site, he actually moved to Austin and he was much closer to the Gulf. That moderate's the winter cold temp's just enough to grow some plants I can't without taking heroic efforts. I will try your suggestion and see how it goes--you never know, we might have a really mild winter again like last year.