I just pulled out all the ugly boxwood hedges in the flower beds in front of my house. I'm now trying to decide what I want to put in the beds. The only thing in them are two yellow bell esperanzas in decorative pots flanking my steps going up to the house.

I really want a lot of color and was thinking maybe two plants that would grow bigger in each bed and then fill in with color. Anyone have any suggestions? There is a house in my neighborhood that has tons of different types of flowers in her flower beds so that it looks like organized wild flowers almost and I think it looks really awesome.

Please suggest plants for me!! Full sun area.

Go to ktrh.com and go to the Gardenline page.
Randy Lemmon has all the plants, scrubs, etc. that do well in our area. Best source I know.

I'm in the same predicatment. I ripped out all the 30+ year old shrubs from out front, but now need something to replace it. I know we're going to add encore azaleas at some point, but we haven't thought about other bedding plants.

I've seen some flower beds around town that have swiss chard mixed in that I think looks cool....plus if you get tired of it you can pull it up and eat it.

This isn't that great of a picture, but it gives the general idea.

i had a bunch of azaleas put in a couple of weeks ago. so far so good.

If you put azelas make sure they are the encore variety. Plain azelas only bloom for a couple of weeks a year. I have some infront of my house that are about to get moved and i am putting in some gardenias.

ocean that is why i'm hesistant about azaleas. they only look good this time of year, and its really better to plant them before they bloom (and all are in bloom now)

Bottlebrush - Hummingbirds love them.

Cigar plant/firecracker - another hummingbird favorite.

Butterfly Bush - blue flower variety.

Mix in some milkweed for the monarch catapillars.

All the above should have color all spring, summer, and into fall.

My gf is a garden freak and I am a fan of usefull plants for attracting butterfies and hummingbirds. We took my backyard to a whole new level this year. I suggested a "draft" for picking plants (best hummingbird attracter). Her first choice was the bottlebrush.

Azeleas and most bedding plants just don't do it for me. That said, she put the encore azeleas in the shaded area in the front and they do seem to keep blooming.

cjg that is a good idea actually. maybe i will do a butterfly garden as well

that gardenline page is good stuff

You can also sow the areas between the plants with zinnia and cosmos seeds. The come up fairly quick and easy and the butterflies like them (my gf is a big fan of doing that).

I forgot about firebush (hummingbird bush) those have been very popular with flying things in the past.

I love the esparanzas and got a new orange variety this spring.

If you read about lantana, just stay away from the creeping lantana. Lantana is good in that it does not seem to like much water.

i love the esparanzas, but i have found the orange variety to not be as hardy and haven't had as much luck with them. i may try a few at the end of the bed though

i'm going to weed and feed my lawn today then head to buchanan's to pick up plants tomorrow afternoon.

i'm excited! thanks for the great suggestions and help

Have fun. I really love seeing all the butterflies and hummingbirds. Up until last summer I just got Monarchs, but last summer was spectacular with 8-10 different varieties and many hummingbirds. This year we have about 10x the plants and all sorts of varieties. Only thing left on the list is coneflowers and a spicebush.

i'll be sure to post a pic when I get done! if you have any pics of your beds i would love to see them

When the gf digs out the Nikon for her daylilly pics (she has 600+ daylillies) I will get her to take some of the back. No matter how much I want to rush the growth, it is still a bit early. Although we have catapillers on the milkweed, I have not seen a monarch. I claim they were on the milkweed when we bought them.

Milkweed is a highly recommended if you want to see Monarch or Queen catapillars.

i second the milkweed if you want to help the monarchs recover. they took a pretty big hit this year, plus butterflies are pretty. pentas are nice and colorful as well.

There is a lot to be said of decorative fruit/vegetable like chard, rhubarb, etc.

I like Cornelius nurseries so you can ask there but my favorites are rudbeckia aka 'coneflower', marigolds (also edible), Buddleja (aka butterfly bush), eremophilla (aka emu bush), andhibiscus. Most of these are good for butterflies as well as hummingbirds.

You should also be able to find the hibiscus in a dwarf strain as well as oleander if you want another shrub to add/offset your other plants. Fountain grass is another addition but I don't think that any of these are necessarily butterfly/hummingbird attractors.

hth

i definitely wanted to do marigolds as well, just b/c i like the way they look

i think i'm going to stay away from the fountain grass though. I had some variegated purple fountain grass and some pampas grass planted before and it looks such a mess when part of it starts dying or if there are any problems with it. i might do monkey grass along the border just b/c its easier to deal with

I would go with verbena if you want a border plant. I am not a fan of the grasses.

verbenas aren't a bad idea. especially if my nursery has the white variety

My gf just sent me this

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nature-lovers/create-a-backyard-wildlife-habitat/

For the large anchor shrubs you might look at Oleanders.

There is a bright cherry red one called 'Calypso' that is cold hardy and is free blooming(will bloom from spring until fall). It is an intermediate grower so it will be 8-10 feet when fully grown.

Bottlebrush is a good one, however they can get really large depending on the variety you buy.

Also, it only produces flowers in the spring, but the Pineapple Guava is a really nice shrub, it produces a fruit too.

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For the large anchor shrubs you might look at Oleanders.

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You need to ask about these since they also have a dwarf variety. Depending on the nursery, they may have only a single bloom color in the dwarf strain. Also, since they begin to produce blooms a different times, the stock at nurseries is staggered starting with pink and fuschia, then white two or more weeks later.

the dwarf oleanders are great, however if you live toward the center to north side of town be careful as most of them are not cold hardy.

Most winters this is not an issue, but this past one killed many of them back to their base, most will regenerate but it will take a little time.

The dwarf varieties can be kept in the 3-6 foot range with annual trimmings.

If you see the name Turner on it, it is a dwarf and free blooming variety.

Look at salvia gregii for some good long lasting color that hummingbirds and butterflies like. It's also evergreen and can be used to help fill in a newly planted bed. I second the butterfly weed or any other milkweed. Asters that bloom in the fall are also key for helping the monarchs.

Also, look at Turk's cap. Nice red flowers and it's a great hummingbird plant.

Not as good for the pollinators, but Texas rock rose and Copper Canyon daisies are great for long lasting color. The CC daisies also smell very good.

[This message has been edited by RoseRichAg01 (edited 4/14/2010 11:27a).]

you would like marigolds

marigolds are good for deterring pests

I've always found this site to be helpful: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/

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just b/c i like the way they look

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obession noted mrs.

I've heard marigolds are good for pests, but the nursery I go to (Plants for all Seasons) always say they don't find that to be true. I also didn't find that to be true when I planted them last year.

Check out this minature butterfly bush.

http://www.colorchoiceplants.com/blue_chip.htm?gclid=CKjx9qmEiaECFYWV7QodfxARNw

oh man i love that cjg!!

Kind of pricey, but I just ordered some. I didn't have much luck the last time I ordered plants over the internet, so hopefully this time will work out much better.