I have been enjoying the "hell strip" between the sidewalk and the road. It has been so hot and dry but it is going really well.
Right now there is gaillardia, crocosmia, rudbeckias, mexican hats, a lantana (I will probably switch this one out eventually, to a more orange variety), and butterfly weed. I don't irrigate very often and it is very hot and dry there. I need to begin thinking of things to add for late summer bloom too, when things begin to peter out.

Cindy,
That is sooooooooooooo Gorgeous,love the combinations you used in it.We got a new mandaville this year,hope it gets as lush as yours.Ours is pink with a white edge.TFS
Kathi

That is a Fantastic container combo and I can't believe how huge the Livingston Daisies are! I tried growing them from seed a few years back because I love them, and they were so teeny!
My favorite combos this year are a window box into which I semi-randomly stuck all sorts of Sedum, sempervivum, and ornamental oregano. And also Kniphofia against purple alliums. I'll try to post pics later.

They are wonderful things. I found the tag they are in Mezoo series and don't much resemble typical livingston aster like daisies.

The other plant worth mentioning is annual dill. Does anybody else let it self sow? It sure is fresh and pretty and that blue green color plus the acid yellow in the flower heads is lovely. I let it come up and backdrop things and yank it when annoying, let a big go to seed and sprinkle it around. I snapped a pic it is pretty bright sunny and would look better early morning but you get the idea.

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No photos, but I put together containers for my parents every year for Mother's and Father's Days. Ones that came out particularly well had dracaena spikes, multi-colored coleus, lime-green potato vine, purple potato vine, and the fragrant purple petunias. These are in partial sun and doing well. I also did a few succulent containers for hot, full sun areas: portaluca, sempervivem, and sedums. My dad said that the portaluca are blooming their heads off.

Here are a few that are working for me this year. Nothing special, but pretty:

This one is nepeta, clematis Nelly Moser (or so I thought, not so sure now), and a purple bearded iris.

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Here's a shade combo that pleases me more every year. It's Heuchera marmalade, an unknown blue hosta, snowberry, and boxwood:

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And a closeup of the above:

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Here's a container combo - last year's pic: 2 kinds of sweet potato vine, coleus, canna and creeping jenny, with heuchera in the little pot.

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Sheri

One more sun combo . . .

This is crocosmia, shasta daisy, a white salvia, and iris fronds. Not shown is a smokebush, which provides a nice backdrop to this combo from a distance.

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Beautiful!! Thank you all so much for sharing!!
-Sprout

One of my favorite combinations in late spring is just finishing. I didn't get a very good picture of it this year though:
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The clematis (probaly Nelly Moser - I don't have a tag for it so I'm not totally sure...) and the dwarf lilac (maybe Miss Kim...? I lost to tag for it too!) bloom together in very similar colors on opposite sides of the path leading to/through the south gate/arbour. This is a closer view of the color combo (picture from 2008):
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The clematis climbs into a mockorange - as does a couple of canes of New Dawn rose. They bloom together after the clematis finishes blooming. With deadheading, the rose will bloom off and on most of the summer. Last summer we removed the majority of the New Dawn roses that used to be on the arbour but we left the canes that grow into the mockorange because we liked that combo. The jury is still out though on whether the rose gets to stay - it is SO vigorous and thorny we may conclude it's not worth the effort to keep it controlled in the shrub. We'll see...

One of the prettiest combinations I ever had in any of my gardens was: pinkish colored lilac shrub underplanted with perennial cornflower, bleeding heart, pink triumph and darwin tulips with silene. It is one combo I have promised myself to do again when I get far enough along in the new garden bed construction.

I am quite happy with the following combination: heuchera Frosted Violet, hosta Wide Brim and stachys byzantina Silver Carpet

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Freezengirl your post on the pink combination came to mind when I saw this combo also with perennial coneflowers and those lovely pink trumpet lilies this morning. I like the airiness and how they seem to float... :)

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I was taking some pics in the garden this morning and came across this cute little vignette:

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Unfortunately I can't really take credit for any good combinations in my yard... usually I just chalk it up to good luck since I plant so haphazardly!

Anyway, it's pretty washed out from the major glare on my phone's camera, but that's two achillea -- 'coronation gold' and 'ballerina', I think -- and some veronica 'royal candles'.

Such nice photos, everyone.

Cindy -- what a great combo! The pinks match and the stamens of the lilies are the perfect complement to the orange stamens in the lilies.

I did not even notice how the centers of the coneflowers match the stamens on the lilies but it does contribute doesn't it?

I think this is where coneflowers really excel - they are such nice companions, very different in texture than anything else.

Makes me smile.

I agree Cindy. I love that combo. I have some echinacea "Pow Wow" - which look just like those in the photo and I also have "Mona Lisa" lilies (also like those in your photo) that I was planning to move - somewhere. What a great combo. I can't wait to make it happen in my garden, too. Thanks for posting.
-Sprout (Linda)

There are great companion combinations shown here.

I have so many, that I don't know where to start and I know that it will take me an hour to round up the photos.

salvia 'Caradonna' with allium 'Purple Sensation' in spring
coreopsis 'Redshift' with blue salvias in summer
agastache 'Cotton Candy' with drumstick allium in early summer
monarda 'Rasberry Wine' with echinacea 'Prairie Splendor'.... this year, I added 'Starfighter' lily and white phlox 'David'.
Rose campion with larkspur.

In the last year, I've started mixing up my annuals and perennials for a mixed meadow look. Not nearly as structured as most companion plantings.... it's like "meadow meets cottage garden" and recently a garden writer decided to call my entire garden (inside and outside the fence) a cottage garden.

Many more...have to think about it.

Here is a link to my favorite right now-- blazing star, bee balm, and coneflowers (soon to be joined by the Russian sage and agastache starting to bloom)

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Liatris and companions