What about salvias, for example. Just because you cannot stand the strident scarlet of bedding salvias, doesn't mean you should overlook the virtues of the other more subtle members of this varied genus. For a start there is the common sage, Salvia officinalis, with its useful foliage, which comes in a range of shades from purple to tri-coloured. Then there is Salvia x sylvestris, a perennial with dark blue flower spikes, Salvia uliginosa, which is more graceful than its common name, Bog Sage, implies, and the delicate pale blue Salvia patens.
You may dislike the rigid spikes of Gladiolus, but have you encountered the smaller and hardier relative, Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus? It has a more natural form with smaller flowers that come in brilliant magenta. It can be left in the ground over winter and will usually naturalise itself.
Hate fuchsias? What about some of the hardy fuchsias, such as Fuchsia magellinica, which forms a large bush, with smaller, daintier flowers than the bedding varieties. There is even one form which comes in a very delicate shade of pale pink.
Do you dislike the blooms of mophead hydrangeas? Have you considered the lacecaps, Hydrangea macrophylla, or Hydrangea paniculata where the flowers are arranged in a conical shape?
Hopefully I have given you food for thought and encouraged you to try other members of plant families you dislike.
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