Unlikely pairings

Call me conservative, but I'm generally not a fan of plants with funky-colored leaves, intense variegation, or some other gauche aberration. To me, they seem better suited alongside a bunch of pink flamingos or planted within a miniature golf course.

And yet... sometimes, when you place two wild and crazy colored plants together, they just fit. It is a natural marriage. Take for instance a purple leaved smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria 'Black Velvet') and a Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Golden Nugget') with crisp, bright green/chartreuse leaves.

Pair them together and their respective wildnesses cancel each other out, resulting in actually a nice (albeit not-so-subtle) plant combination.

A friend of mine insists on wearing plaid, paisley and stripes, and it sort of works for him, so perhaps there is something to this theory of boldness? I have a conference coming up, and I've not selected what it is I will wear during my presentation. Perhaps I'll wear something Purple and Bright Yellow?