Flower color
Red flowers
270 garden plants with red blooms, with bloom times, hardiness zones, and sun needs. Build a red color scheme that lasts across the season.
Showing 1 to 60 of 270 plants
Red is the heaviest color in a border and the hardest to place. At distance and in low light it reads as a hole rather than a highlight, because the eye loses red first as the light goes: the exact opposite of white. Dark reds especially want to be near a path, or backed by something pale enough to hold them up. The useful split among the 270 plants here is not season or light but temperature. Scarlet carries yellow and belongs with orange; crimson carries blue and belongs with purple and pink; the two together look like an accident. Red is also the hummingbird color, so a red planting you can see from indoors earns its keep twice.
Related guides
Agastache 'Firebird'
Agastache 'Firebird'
Full sunZones 6–112 ftLow
Amaryllis
Hippeastrum
Part sunZones 8–111.6 ftModerate
Anna's Red
Helleborus × hybridus 'Anna's Red'
Part shadeZones 4–91.3 ftModerate
Apeldoorn
Tulipa 'Apeldoorn'
Full sunZones 3–82 ftModerate
Arabian Night
Dahlia 'Arabian Night'
Full sunZones 8–103.3 ftHigh
Arizona Glow
Thunbergia alata 'Arizona Glow'
Full sunZones 10–118.2 ftModerate
Arizona Sun
Gaillardia × grandiflora 'Arizona Sun'
Full sunZones 3–91.1 ftLow
Australia
Canna 'Australia'
Full sunZones 7–104.9 ftHigh
Autumn Fire
Hylotelephium 'Autumn Fire'
Full sunZones 3–91.6 ftLow
Avant-Garde
Rosa 'Delgramat'
Full sunZones 5–94.9 ftModerate
Avant-garde Clematis
Clematis 'Evipo033'
Full sunZones 4–99.8 ftModerate
Bandana Cherry
Lantana 'Bandana Cherry'
Full sunZones 9–111.6 ftLow
Bee Balm
Monarda
Full sunZones 3–93 ftModerate
Benary's Giant Wine
Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Wine'
Full sun3.3 ftModerate1.3 ft wide
FoliageBeni-Kaze
Hakonechloa macra 'Beni-Kaze'
Part shadeZones 5–91.3 ftModerate
Berry Heavy
Ilex verticillata 'Spravy'
Full sunZones 3–98.2 ftHigh
Berry Poppins
Ilex verticillata 'FarrowBPop'
Full sunZones 3–93.9 ftHigh
Bicolor Marigold
Tagetes patula 'Bicolor'
Full sun12 inModerate12 in wide
Bishop of Llandaff
Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'
Full sunZones 8–103.3 ftHigh
Bishop's Children
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Full sunZones 8–102.6 ftHigh
Black Ball
Centaurea cyanus 'Black Ball'
Full sunZones 2–112.6 ftLow
Black Diamond Red Hot
Lagerstroemia 'Black Diamond Red Hot'
Full sunZones 7–911 ftLow
Black Star
Gladiolus 'Black Star'
Full sunZones 7–103.9 ftModerate
Blaze
Schizachyrium scoparium 'Blaze'
Full sunZones 3–93.3 ftLow
FoliageBloodgood
Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'
Part shadeZones 5–820 ftModerate
Brilliant
Dianthus deltoides 'Brilliant'
Full sunZones 3–98 inLow
Burgundy
Gaillardia × grandiflora 'Burgundy'
Full sunZones 3–92 ftLow
Burgundy Geranium
Pelargonium 'Burgundy'
Full sun1.3 ftModerate1.3 ft wide
Burgundy Mum
Chrysanthemum 'Burgundy'
Full sunZones 5–92 ftModerate
Burgundy Petunia
Petunia 'Burgundy'
Full sun12 inModerate1.3 ft wide
Burgundy Snapdragon
Antirrhinum 'Burgundy'
Full sun2.3 ftModerate12 in wide
Burning Hearts
Dicentra 'Burning Hearts'
Part shadeZones 3–910 inModerate
California Fuchsia
Epilobium canum
Full sunZones 7–112 ftLow
Canna Lily
Canna
Full sunZones 7–104.9 ftHigh
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Part sunZones 3–93.3 ftHigh
Celosia
Celosia
Full sun1.6 ftModerate12 in wide
Chater's Double Red
Alcea rosea 'Chater's Double Red'
Full sunZones 3–86.2 ftModerate
Cherokee Chief
Cornus florida 'Cherokee Chief'
Part shadeZones 5–920 ftModerate
Cherries Jubilee
Baptisia 'Cherries Jubilee'
Full sunZones 3–93 ftLow
Cherry Brandy
Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherry Brandy'
Full sunZones 4–92 ftLow
Cherry Dazzle
Lagerstroemia 'Cherry Dazzle'
Full sunZones 7–103.9 ftLow
Cherry Queen
Cleome hassleriana 'Cherry Queen'
Full sunZones 10–113.9 ftModerate
Chicago Apache
Hemerocallis 'Chicago Apache'
Full sunZones 3–92.3 ftModerate
Cockscomb Red
Celosia cristata 'Cockscomb Red'
Full sun1.6 ftModerate12 in wide
Coral Verbena
Verbena × hybrida
Full sunZones 9–1110 inModerate
Cornel
Dahlia 'Cornel'
Full sunZones 8–103.3 ftHigh
Cosmic Red
Cosmos sulphureus 'Cosmic Red'
Full sun1.3 ftLow1.3 ft wide
Couleur Cardinal
Tulipa 'Couleur Cardinal'
Full sunZones 3–81.1 ftModerate
Cranberry Crush
Hibiscus 'Cranberry Crush'
Full sunZones 5–93.6 ftHigh
Crème de Cassis
Alcea rosea 'Creme de Cassis'
Full sunZones 3–85.9 ftModerate
Crimson Bedder
Nicotiana alata 'Crimson Bedder'
Part sunZones 10–111.6 ftModerate
FoliageCrimson Queen
Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Crimson Queen'
Part shadeZones 5–89.8 ftModerate
Crimson Trumpet
Campsis radicans 'Crimson Trumpet'
Full sunZones 4–926 ftModerate
Crocosmia
Crocosmia
Full sunZones 5–93 ftModerate
Crown Imperial Rubra
Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra'
Full sunZones 5–83 ftModerate
Cuphea (Cigar Plant)
Cuphea ignea
Full sunZones 9–111.3 ftModerate
Dallas Red
Lantana camara 'Dallas Red'
Full sunZones 9–112 ftLow
Darcey Bussell
Rosa 'Ausdecorum'
Full sunZones 5–103.3 ftModerate
Dark Eyes
Fuchsia 'Dark Eyes'
Part shadeZones 9–111.6 ftModerate
Dazzler
Cosmos bipinnatus 'Dazzler'
Full sun3.3 ftLow1.3 ft wide
Red flowers by season
A plant is counted in every season it flowers in, so a long-flowering one appears in more than one. The named picks are the plants whose whole flowering sits in that season, not the ones that only pass through it.
Summer
June, July and August
214 plants
Fall
September, October and November
170 plants
Winter
December, January and February
10 plants
Red flowers for shade
57 of these 270 plants will flower in less than a full day of sun.
The longest-blooming red flowers
66 of these plants hold their flowers for 5 months or more. These are the longest of them.
Red flowers by height
Mature height, in the three bands a border is planted in. Anything over 9.8 ft is structure rather than a border plant, and a climber is sized by whatever it is growing up, so both sit this out.
Front of the border
under 12 in
23 plants
Middle of the border
12 in to 3 ft
140 plants
Back of the border
3 ft and up
83 plants
Keep exploring
Design your garden
Drop plants onto a 3D plan, see how they fill in, and watch the whole garden bloom across the year.