Oh, dear. In this case, I'll be more explicit. One little flower on either side of the door will not improve the looks of the house. Make a real bed that extends from the sidewalk under the window to the left that is 4' deep. Kill or remove the grass, dig in amendments, and make a clear, clean line between grass and the flower bed. (It can be maintained with a string trimmer.) Plant a line of large hostas along the back. They are NOT "out of season" in Austin right now. They are perennial. (I'm pretty sure that they have a VERY short dormancy in Austin, but I can't remember that clearly.) However, you still might have to wait until spring to find them if you only want to shop as Home Depot. In front of them, plant a bunch of annuals. These will die every year, so they have to be replanted each season. In October, plant pansies in front of the hostas. Don't plant just one row. Plant three staggered, with the center line offset. Plant them pretty close together. When it warms and the pansies begin looking ragged, pull them out and plant periwinkles, if you can find them, and if you can't then plant impatiens. The New Guinea type will give you more "bang." (I advise periwinkles over impatiens in this case because they are lower care, whereas impatiens in your climate need more water.) You can even find periwinkles, impatiens, and pansies at Wal-mart, let alone Lowe's or Home Depot. If you would rather not mow under the palm, you can underplant it with jasmine. On the right side of your front door, go out at a 45 degree angle 3' and there you can plant a skyrocket juniper.

Hi there tedhort, Excellent! I googled for the name you gave, and yes - that's the one :) Thank you so much for your help! Now I know how NOT to kill it lol :D Shanook.

Even with the magnifying glass I cannot see the detail in the red flower. The yellow looks like Million Bells, Calibrachoa. Here is a link that might be useful:

Try Sarcodes sanguinea. It reminded me of a ground cone, which grows here in Alaska. Here is a link that might be useful: Mycotrophic plants