I am not ready to shout, success!, but I do think this unlikely combination in the top picture looks kind of cool. It is Hibiscus 'Robert Fleming' and Clematis 'Mrs. Robert Brydon' growing at Kingwood Center. As an administrator I don't get many opportunities to garden at work, but I do have a few beds to tend, and I try to do weird things that are unlike what the other gardeners are doing. My efforts fall flat all too often, but I want the gardeners to experiment and try new things. Maybe if they see me doing it, and eventually succeeding, they will be emboldened.
We had Clematis 'Mrs. Robert Brydon' for sale at the Greenhouse for two years and could hardly give it away. That is one reason I made a point of using it in the garden.
On the other side of the bed I am trying to do something similar, but instead of using 'Mrs. Robert Brydon' as the groundcover I am using Indigofera pseudotinctoria 'Rose Carpet' (Dwarf False Indigo). When I took delivery from our local supplier I noticed that he gave me more than I ordered. He said he couldn't sell them (I see a pattern here.), so he just give me the last of his supply. The first year they looked great and full of flowers as illustrated in the bottom picture, but I discovered they die back hard in the winter. The good news is the Indigo has come back vigorously in year two and has self seeded. I am counting on a robust groundcover eventually.
To me this is the sort of stuff that makes gardening fun.
