THE SINUS SHRUB

I think my color-madness must have rubbed off on my hubby a bit over the years. Check out this plant combination of his.  It looks fantastic pretty much all the time, what with the way the purple fountain grass pops against the soft blue-gray of the Texas Sage foliage. But, when that sage happens to be covered in these gorgeous violet blooms, well, it'll knock your socks off!

Texas Sage is a peculiar plant in that it comes in and out of bloom all season long, and you never know what's going to trigger it. Some people call it the barometer plant, and think it can tell you when it's about to rain, but I haven't really found that to be true. I call it the Sinus Shrub, because what it does do very well is predict when it's going to turn so dang muggy that I'm sure to wake up with one of my sinus headaches. Beautiful colors, thrives in our rocky limestone soil, and the deer don't touch it? What's not to love? The bees are mad for it too. The whole plant was just vibrating with them, when I was taking these pictures early yesterday morning.

Yep, that hubby of mine -- he's definitely got a designer's eye!

Note: If you are thinking about planting some purple fountain grass, be forewarned that it is not terribly cold hardy. However, we don't mind planting a few new one gallon plants each year, as it grows fast, and there are so few things with color here that the deer won't bother. There is also a similar plant that has more red in the new foliage, and which is more likely to winter over. If only I could remember the name!