Red Flowering Plants for a Vibrant Perennial Garden

Plant red flowers in your perennial garden and bring some vibrancy to your landscaping. Perennials grow back year after year, so you only need to buy them once. After two or three seasons, you can divide and transplant your perennials and increase the number of plants in your garden. Plant red flowering perennials this fall for a dazzling revival in next year's garden.

Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, and they will flock to your red flowering plants. Select plants of different heights to help create texture in your landscaping. Use plants with different blooming periods so you can have a splash of red somewhere in your garden from spring through fall.

Tulips
Tulips are some of the earliest-blooming and most reliable red flowers you can plant. Available in many heights, you can find tall varieties with 18" stems, and small ground-hugging types like Red Riding-Hood, with variegated leaves and stems about 6" tall. All tulips will multiply; most varieties are excellent for naturalizing. They bloom in the spring, and the foliage dies back by early summer. Tulips do best in full sun.

Astilbe
Lovely in shade gardens, astilbes provide lush, fern-like foliage and gorgeous red flower plumes. Fanal astilbes are about 18" to 30 inches tall. Late spring bloomers, Fanals have deep red plumes and bronze foliage. Red Sentinel astilbes, about 20" to 24" tall, have scarlet panicles with mahogany stems and green foliage. Red Sentinels bloom mid-summer. Another popular red astilbe variety is Montgomery, which has flaming red plumes about 24" tall. Montgomery blooms mid- to late summer. Plant astilbes in shade to partial sun, and keep the soil from drying out. They will multiply rapidly. Pests don't bother astilbes, including insects and browsing deer.

Creeping Phlox
A brilliant red creeping phlox variety called Scarlet Flame will spread rapidly in beds or borders, growing about 4" tall and spreading 12" to 18". It is also a good selection for hillsides or rock gardens. The plants "green up" early in the spring, and bloom profusely for two or three weeks. The soft, mossy-looking foliage stays green until a freeze, and it makes a low-growing, green filler for other summer flowers. Creeping phlox is a pest-resistant plant.

Daylily
Little Business daylily is a dwarf variety with red flowers, about 3" across. Daylilies grow as a clump or mound of long, straplike leaves, with flower racemes held above the foliage. Little Business is a bright rebloomer that begins flowering in mid- to late spring and continues all season. The plants of this variety are only about 12" to 18" tall. Allow them to spread to fill beds and borders, or use them for naturalizing. Little Business is a tough little daylily that performs well in full sun.

Asiatic Lily
Asiatic lilies are tall, narrow plants with clusters of large flowers at the top. Monte Negro is a fantastic red Asiatic lily. It quickly grows to four feet tall on a sturdy stem. The breathtaking deep red flowers, peppered with black throat spots, are about 5 inches across. Each tall plant may have 10 blossoms, and the bloom period can stretch for three or four weeks. These multiply rapidly. Monte Negro is an impressive tall red flower for naturalizing.

Look for these perennials at your local garden center or online:
www.springhillnursery.com
www.michiganbulb.com
www.henryfields.com
www.dutchbulbs.com

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Sources: personal experience
Check with your local garden center or online for information tailored to your planting zone.