With this mix of flowers and foliage, you’re sure to have lots of color and texture. Cherry-red Double Knock Out rose makes a beautiful accent in a border or low hedge. The round flower shape is easy to combine with spikes of snapdragons and angelonia. Tall ‘Rocket Mix,’ unlike other snapdragon cultivars, doesn’t stop blooming in summer, so you can enjoy the flowers side by side. Angelonia has a similar spike flower but really gets going when temperatures rise. Its flowers last a long time and are practically carefree. Just deadhead spent blooms. Silvery dusty miller adds a nice contrast to all the bright colors here and low-growing lilyturf makes a great edging plant at the front of the border.
Meet the plants
A) Double Knock Out® shrub rose (Rosa hybrid)
Type Shrub
Blooms Cherry-red flowers from late spring through fall
Light Full sun
Size 3 to 4 ft. tall and wide
Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 5 to 11, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 11 to 1
B) ‘Rocket Mix’ snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Type Tender perennial
Blooms Yellow, red, orange, pink, white and bicolor flowers from spring through fall
Light Full sun
Size 24 to 36 in. tall, 16 to 18 in. wide
Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 7 to 10, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 12 to 1
C) ‘Silver Dust’ dusty miller (Senecio cineraria)
Type Tender perennial
Blooms Rare yellow flowers in late summer, silver foliage
Light Full sun to part shade
Size 10 to 12 in. tall, 8 to 12 in. wide
Haridness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 8 to 11, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 12 to 1
D) ‘Hawaii Blue’ floss flower (Ageratum houstonium)
Type Tender perennial
Blooms Lavender-blue flowers from late spring to frost
Light Full sun to part shade
Size 6 to 8 in. tall, 8 to 10 in. wide
Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 9 to 10, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 12 to 1
E) Serena® Purple angelonia (Angelonia hybrid)
Type Tender perennial
Blooms Purple flowers spring through frost
Light Full sun
Size 10 to 14 in. tall, 8 to 10 in. wide
Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 9 to 11, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 12 to 1
F) ‘Variegata’ lilyturf (Liriope muscari)
Type Perennial
Blooms Lavender flowers in summer, green-and-white variegated foliage
Light Full sun to part shade
Size 12 to 18 in. tall, 12 to 24 in. wide
Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 6 to 10, heat-tolerant in AHS zones 10 to 1
