Orange is a firey colour — in no instances is it cold.
Orange can be used in the garden to bring a touch of heat to a particular area, or play off the changing colours of autumn. Additionally, orange is a colour that naturally attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and pollinating insects.
Orange’s complimentary colour is blue, and blue hues bring out the best in orange. A house with blue trim looks electric behind a wall of orange wallflowers.
Both stand out to their maximum.
I think a few colliding colours are a good idea. They show your ease of nature, and the fact that you are not afraid to experiment.
As my mother says, nothing in nature clashes.
If you follow fashion, you will remember the grass green clothing and accessories of last summer, along with their bright orange counterparts.
Often, popular bedding plant colours can be tracked through the fashion of the previous summer.
While a shopper may not have been caught dead in a bright orange mini t-shirt, their eyes were exposed to colours and thus primed for the acceptance of them. This years hot bedding plant colours are already proving to be lime green and orange. In the shade, the lime-green foliage of Fuchsia ‘Aureum’ and golden lamium mingles with the oranges of coleus and mimulus.
In the sun, orange zinnias are back planted with Euonymous ‘Emerald and Gold’, a plant that has sold very poorly for a decade.
Let’s face it! Trends in colour are changing before our very eyes!
10 Stunning Plants That Bloom Orange
Boris Avens
Geum x borisii, also known as Orange Avens, is one of the first bright orange perennials to bloom, starting in April and usually finishing in August. It’s flowers are like that of a single rose, with very fluffy yellow stamens forming a golden circle in the middle of 5 tangerine-coloured petals.
They grow to only 18 inches (45 cm) tall.
Geums prefer full sun or part shade, whether it is dappled shade or shade for part of the day. They prefer moist soil, although they have deep roots and can withstand a little summer or fall drought.
Hardy to -25 degrees celsius.
Wall Flowers
There are two types of wallflowers.
Erysimum is a shrubby perennial that will survive only where winter temperatures do not reach below -15 degrees celcius. Cheiranthus cheiri is normally sold as an annual plant, or grown as a biennial from seed.
However, these are actully another perennial, also hardy to only -15 degrees celcius.
Because Chieranthus flower earlier, and are more commonly available, these are what most people think of when they hear the word wallflower.
Cheiranthus wallflowers come in a great array of hot colours from yellow, orange, cream, deep burgundy and bright red. They grow best in limed or alkaline soil which is poor, and well-drained. In zones 7 to 10, they winter over nicely and seeds can scatter much like that of a forget-me-not — freely and casually.
Wallflowers are called wallflowers because they naturalize in dry stone walls very well.
A late-spring stroll anywhere in England will reveal yellow wallflowers growing out of the cracks in walls and pavement, expecially in buildings and walls made from limestone.
Mimulus (Monkey Flowers)
These annuals for shade get their name because their flowers apparently look like monkey faces.
Their tubular flaring blooms are about 2 inches across and come in clusters at the ends of shorts stems. These are held over a 1 foot-tall hummock of very compact light green foliage. They flower in colours from yellow to red, with deep shades of burgundy and some splashing and spotting of petals, but my favourite is the bright orange variety.
These create a great splash of firey-orange in cool, moist areas, and do very well in shaded containers.
If necessary, use a light mulch to keep the soil damp and moist in hot-summer areas.
Calendula
Calendulas are very easy annuals to grow in sun or light shade, but their merits really come forth when planted in a sunny flower bed. They are virtually pest free and make for a very easy show of colour, requiring less water than petunias and no deadheading.
When the frost finally kills the plants, cut off the remaining flower heads, and scatter their contents where you would like calendulas next year.
Euphorbia Griffithii ‘Fireglow’
Perhaps the most striking of the Euphorbias (also known as spurges), ‘Fireglow’ sports stems to 2 feet tall encrusted with bright orange bracts surrounding lime-green flowers on top.
They flower first in mid-spring, but those stems remain all summer, losing only the lime-green centrepeice.
Euphorbias are best in moist soils – in dry soil they may head off in all directions looking for moisture. In other words, they can become invasive.
They prefer full sun or partial shade.
Helenium Autumnale (Helen’s Flower)
If there is such a thing, Heleniums are the harbingers of fall.
While asters can sometimes bloom starting in late-summer, by the time you see Helen’s Flowers, you will probably already feel the cool crisp air coming round the corner.
These flower appropriately during the harvest months, matching the pumpkins and turning foliage.
Helenium is very hardy, growing from zones 3 to 9. There are many varieties available in plant stores today, including a Blooms of Bressingham introduction (Coppelia) and many deep orange varieties. They grow on average from 2 to 3 feet tall, but some of the older varieties can reach a stately 4 feet.
They grow best in low, wet, open sites, such as marshes and meadows, although they adapt to moist garden soil slightly on the acid side. They also require full sun.
Don’t lime the heleniums, they won’t like it very much.
Marigolds
Marigolds are just as easy to grow as calendulas.
Marigold seed is very easy to start; sow indoors from four to six weeks before the last frost is due. Set the plants in the garden after the last frost is due. Or, at this time, sow seeds outdoors or buy started plants and set them out.
In zones 9 and 10, marigolds can be seeded outdoors anytime.
Tiger Lilies
Tiger lilies are another hardy selection, growing from zones 3 to 10.
They prefer light shade in hot summer areas, but can tolerate full sun in mild coastal regions.
In full hot sun, the colours may fade, and the blooms will not last as long as when given some cool periods of shade during the day.
No lily can withstand constantly moist roots, so be sure to plant lilies in raised bed on level sites where water won’t drain.
Lilies can be planted in the fall or in early spring.
After purchase, plant the bulbs ASAP so they don’t dry out. In zones 9 and 10, the bulbs will need to be dug up and refrigerated for 8 weeks to give them their dormant period.
Sungold Butterfly Bush
While Buddleias are normally purple, pink or white, there is a variety called ‘Sungold’ that has bunches of golden-orange flowers held in spikes. It is a hybrid between the purple Buddleia davidii and the orange B. globosa.
‘Sungold’ has yellow-orange flowers in ball-shaped clusters.
All buddlieas are fast growing, very hardy, and make a great quick screen for urban gardens, but this one seems to be even more fast growing.
‘Sungold’ will grow to 14 feet in time, normally to 6 feet within it’s first 2 years of growth.
As with all buddleias, this one produces flowers on new growth, so a hard pruning back will not hinder flower production. In order to keep the plant from becomming ‘spraggly’, I recommend pruning back to a framework of strong branches in late winter.
Plant buddlias in full sun, and water well in the first year to produce strong roots.
Once established, buddleias are very drought-tolerant, and produce a plethora of sweet-smelling flowers from spring to fall. Cut the flowers for use in bouquets to encourage reblooming.
Additionally, buddleias attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
Heard About Orange Seashells Impatiens?
There are new varieties of impatiens in yellow and orange, and if you haven’t already seen them, you may have to look hard. Most people agree — their tones are washed out.
They are different all the same, so if you have a shaded area and like impatiens, these may be worth trying.