Lanceleaf coreopsis?

The blue of a German or bearded iris is stunning when planted with the bright orange of the Oriental poppy. Not only is the color combination spectacular, but the contrast in foliage form and color is also complementary, as well. The swordlike green of the iris pairs wonderfully with the feathery soft green foliage of the poppies.
Note: I don't know about German Iris in particular but Iris love TX of the varieties I've seen. Hope this helps! PJ

Am I doing something wrong? I don't cover my poppies, after the pods dry, I cut them off, then either pull or cut off the plant- then to the compost. My other plants just fill-in. Here's a pic of my front bed, I only have to look at the browning stuff 1+ wk, not pretty but tolerable.
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There you go! Intersperse with larkspur! Beautiful!!!!

You eventually have to pull the larkspur and then what came to mind is having some Melochia tomentosa, a wild flower from down in the valley, planted in front. It's a perennial, grows in a pyramid shaped small bush, and dies to the ground in winter.

It's almost 3 ft high now, but not blooming yet. It's planted in the hell strip and my name for it is 'blooms a lot.' I couldn't find a decent picture of the whole bush, but will take a picture of mine when it starts blooming.

Here's a picture of the flowers. They look similar to rock rose which another option as the tomentosa might not be easy to find. Got mine at Rainbow Gardens in San Antonio. Not a show stopper, but it's such a dependable easy little plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Melochia tomentosa

Dwarf cleome, which I saw mentioned on another thread. Very good plant!

Obedient plant?

mine's about 20" tall now & it hasn't started blooming.

It does spread, but it's easy to pull out the "surplus", & since it'll grow in less-than-hospitable conditions, it's always easy to find it a home.

Iris is *always* good:

Although the bloom season's pretty much over (waah!),the foliage is evergreen here, & I don't think I've ever had to water iris once it was established.

just realized I didn't say it right:
the obedient plant hasn't started blooming yet, but it will flower pretty soon.

Tall Mexican Petunia is another nice one:

Mine's already started flowering, & it'll keep going all summer.

Butterflies & tiny bees & bumblebees (non-aggressive) looove it.

You can get it in white, pink, & purple (& I'd bet somebody on this forum has seeds!)

How about Angelonia 'Serena'? This is an annual that I have used in my garden several times in the past. It is also called "summer snapdragon" since it blooms all summer in either pink, purple or white blooms. It reaches about 2.5 - 3 feet tall. I bought some again this year from Calloway's. They had two plants in each of their 6" pots and I pulled them apart and planted each one rather than keeping them together - trying to get more for the money. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Angelonia

Roselee, that's the plant on name this plant that you couldn't think of the name of.

I'm going to try and find one of these.

Lots of great ideas here! In fact, I did plant irises in front of them, but not close enough to do the job. Here's a picture of the bed when it was just beginning to turn:

Here's a picture from this morning:

This picture is more washed out, but you get the gist. It's pretty bad!

I also put in some coreopsis, but only two seedlings have started from those seeds, and are only about 10" tall so far. I'm just hoping these will flower enough for me to get more seeds.

You all are so helpful! Thanks for all the great suggestions, and if any more come to mind, please share! :-)

Yes, great suggestions! One other thing that comes to mind is to change your mind that they look all that that bad. It is just part of the maturing process that plants go through, as well as ourselves. I like what Mike Shoup of Antique Rose Emporium said about a few black spotted leaves on roses, "Just think of them as decorative yellow polka dots." LOL

Carolann you remembered! I had to go back to the post on "name this plant" to find the name of the plant!

Roselee, I never thought about it that way--I like that! :-)

Next time, when you throw your poppy seeds, throw some cosmos, cleome, zinnia, or such seeds in front of the poppy seeds. The other seeds need warmer weather to grow and mature, so they will come up later and just be making pretty new foliage when the poppies are maturing. And, it is something you can change from year to year.

Janie, who is so jealous of your poppies. I had one plant only this year, but it has been a beauty! It just keeps blooming!

I was going to suggest cleome, Janie - they are so easy to grow and will re-seed all summer and again next year.

Has anyone mentioned Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)? It's the fastest growing perennual I can think of in that size range (actually it might get a bit taller than 3'). It grows just fine in full sun in my Waco area yard with no watering at all, only what the rain provides. Around here it will die back in the winter just like Lantana but comes back every year in the spring.

http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/salv_leu.cfm