My love of weedy plants doesn't help. The squirrels and birds are ripping apart a sad looking sunflower which showed up on it's own and I don't have the heart to rip out. The other tall weedy stuff is hopefully "hot biscuit" amaranthus.... but they may just as likely be stray pigweed.

I intentionally planted the dahlias. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but I never thought the other stuff would come in so strong. These are colors that make a knockout rose look pale (there's one blooming and growing strong in the center of the bed, but you barely notice it)
Gold rudbeckias in front don't help things....

I challenge anyone to use red salvia tastefully. These and the seedling butterfly bush planted themselves... in a desperate attempt to lighten things up and dilute the color I put in a couple verbena transplants.
So any comments? Will structure help? Maybe some red mulch?
Just having a little fun here. Let me know if you hate all of it, some of it, or love it. My MIL loves it by the way, she just wishes it didn't take till July to fill in.
My only regret is I planted all the tropicanna cannas elsewhere.

I like it. I bet the hummingbirds are enjoying the red salvia. Gardens change from year to year so you don't have to do it exactly this way again, but I'd be happy with all that color and the plants look healthy. I have one hill in the sun I call my fiesta garden where I put a lot of orange, yellow, and red flowering shrubs and perennials. But like your white butterfly bush surprised you, I have a hibiscus that took forever to bloom in the fiesta garden, and it's PINK! ~sigh~

Ooh.. lots of potential there to make a great 'hot' bed! Avoid the red mulch though! The red salvias look great with the plants with dark red-purple foliage in the third picture. If it was my garden, I'd sort the plants (on paper or in my head to begin with....) by color, size and bloom time and then work out an arrangement that would organize them from paler colors to increasingly intense ones. Have you ever read Gertrude Jeykll's 'Color Schemes for the Flower Garden'? Her famous long perennial border was organized by color to crescendo at red. I used that idea to organize my small hot bed to shade from pink to peachy colors, to oranges and rusty reds and red-purple foliage. I like it and it looks like you have lots of material there to focus on the hot end of the spectrum without worrying too much about trying to integrate the paler pastels. Tons of potential and lots of fun!

Well I like your tropical-looking red garden, Kato! Red is my favorite color. This garden has a lot of energy and color.

Well, since you asked for suggestions...

What is really jarring to my eye is the color of the butterfly bush and the other light purple flower next to it -- that combo really clashes, it's just too cool-toned look good with the fiery red. The dark purple salvia looks fine, though. Bright yellow or bright orange would look much better there instead of a cool-toned color.

This post was edited by mxk3 on Sun, Aug 25, 13 at 11:54

Yes Sandy, the hummingbirds do like this little tropical garden. These's a lot of activity mostly around the salvias and verbena.... Plus lately the katydids have developed a taste for canna leaves, so the kids like to catch and play with those.
Woody I don't know if I have enough discipline to stick to a straight color scheme like that, I really like The idea though. I've been a fan of Helen Dillion's garden for a while and she kind of does a hot border on one side and a cool border across from it in a facing bed. If I get serious about this bed I might try something like that since it seems easier to apply to a smaller bed.
I guess the red salvia does look good with the purple foliage.... Now maybe I need to think of a way to transition into the next color.
Thanks for the comments, I do find myself liking bolder colors during the summer and fall.... Maybe they hold up better against the background of my dried faded tan lawn...
mxk3- thanks for the honesty! There's so much I don't like about the combos in this bed in some ways a killing freeze will be a relief! I'd like to keep a tropical theme, but as of now I want to evict everything except for the rose, purple salvia, dark leaved cannas, variegated grass, and little gem magnolia. I'm not sure about the verbena and what reds to leave.
Planning is always fun, but don't be offended if in the fever of next spring this space fills with coleus and elephant ears! It is an experimental bed after all, and definately a summer peaking bed.

If you just grouped the hot colors in one area and the cool ones in another, that would go a long way to putting a sense of order to the area.

Yes and do some arranging by height especially in the 2nd photo. It's also a bit difficult to get a perspective on how large this bed is, but I think one might argue some of the plants are too tall for the space. You know, kind of like planting a few 12 foot sunflowers in a 3x3 foot bed. It just doesn't look right.

And back to woodyoak's comment. It can work to do some daring color combos, but the colors should be grouped.

Kevin

I did a better job last year with groupings and height. You are right that it makes a huge difference, I bet this year's bed would look ten times better just by cutting down the amaranthus.... I may still do it... they are kinda weedy.

I was hoodwinked by all the self sown plants. It was so generous of them to show up all over the place and who am I to deny their chance at the sun? LOL, just kidding. I used most of my plants in other areas and didn't have much left for this bed... plus a late start forced me to just use a lot of what was there.
Here's a picture from last year.... more of a tropical theme imo, and definitely more restrained.
Also the bed size is about 12 by 20.

I was in Chanticleer last week and besides all the other amazing plantings this one stuck with me. I may be on to something with the red salvia and the verbena! This is a similar color pair, with a lot more green to calm it down and a less dense red that matches the airy verbena. I think it's an annual, Emilia I believe.....
oh and please don't even think I'm comparing my little garden bed to the Chanticleer masterpieces!

I used to grow Emilia every year and it really was a nice accent scattered throughout the garden. On my monitor your photo is showing much more orange, so I didn't recognize it till you said the name. Hmm, I had forgotten about this little gem - been awhile since I grew it and I kind of forgot about it. Since I'm making a red/yellow/orange bed, I'll have to think about adding Emilia to it. Thanks for the reminder!

Dee

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This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 1:29