Beginner Gardening: Texas newbie: what to do between new shrubs?, 1 by foxpaw

foxpaw wrote:
Hi, I promised photos--attached are photos of the "knoll" which is very much in its early inception, with skullcap in front, then two bottle brush (dwarf Little John) and in the back, on either side of some weeds, two flame acanthus.

To give some perspective to the yard, I'm also posting a photo of the center of the yard, with a new maple in the foreground, Aussie Daniel on the alert, and beyond him, my butterfly garden, now in its second year. Forgive the weeds and long grass. We've had too much rain (well, not TOO much) but enough that I haven't been able to mow! The knoll is to the west, or looking toward the center butterfly garden to the left, not quite visible in the photo.

The question is whether to plant some ground cover or add something else while the plants grow up; by this time next year, however, I think they will be considerably more mature!