Our expert shares his favourite red and orange plants to warm up your plot in late summer Lobelia cardinalis has sizzling scarlet flowers Echinops ritro Sorbus aria If you’re holidaying at home in the south-west, you will be enjoying the vibrant colours of the hedgerows. Every year, they are ablaze with wild crocosmia and fuchsia, an exuberant combination of orange and pink. Crocosmia, or montbretia as it’s often known, is a South African native that has made itself at home here.
It’s an elegant combination of sword-shaped leaves and arching spikes of bright orange flowers. One of the best-known cultivars for the garden is ‘Lucifer’, with devilishly deep red blossoms, but there are also superb orange varieties such as ‘Firebird’ and ‘Emily McKenzie’. I also like some of the yellow forms such as ‘Mount Usher’.
Plant them in a sunny, moderately fertile soil that retains some moisture as you will find flowering will be lesser in very dry soil. The cheapest option is to buy corms, which are like bulbs, and plant next spring at a depth of three to four inches. You may also spot some Watsonia in coastal areas.
Native to South Africa and named after British botanist Sir William Watson, it is a perennial corm with sword-like leaves and tubular flowers along the stem and is usually orange or red but also comes in salmon pink and white. Plant in well-drained soil in full sunshine. It can be a little tender so, if you always lift your dahlias in autumn, then also lift this species.
Otherwise a winter mulch should protect it and it will happily multiply. There are other notable red and orange flowers for the garden this month. Most gardeners are familiar with the bedding lobelia, bright blue flowers that are the staple trailing plant of hanging baskets and edgers for bedding schemes.
But there’s much more to the Lobelia family than this. Lobelia tupa, a native of Chile, also known as ‘Devil’s Tobacco’, is a tall variety with tropical-looking scarlet flowers. It’s a tall variety, up to four feet in height with handsome foliage as well — long, elegant grey-green leaves.
Other lobelias to look out for are ‘Hadspen Purple’, with dazzling purple flowers, and Lobelia cardinalis, with sizzling scarlet flowers. Beautiful vertical accents of colour are provided by kniphofias or red hot pokers. Grouped together, they can look dramatic and glowing as the sun sets on their magnificent blooms.
One of best is ‘Gladness’, with apricot buds that reveal orange luminescent flowers. They originate in South Africa but are very happy here — so long as they don’t get waterlogged, they will live long lives. Coneflowers have lovely daisy flowers and are useful for providing colour in late summer and early autumn.
Echinacea ‘Sunseekers Red’ has rich red petals and a central prominent orange-brown cone, while ‘Tequila Sunrise’ is a hot mix of yellow and red. Echinacea are popular in prairie planting schemes where their relaxed appearance mixes well with grasses and other prairie perennials. Plant in full sunshine for maximum flowers and, if you have heavy clay soil, delay planting until spring as they tend to disappear in very wet soil.
They don’t like it bone dry either so water during dry spells. Salvias have become a mainstay of herbaceous borders, prized for their ease, fragrant foliage and longevity of flowering. ‘Royal Bumble’ is a much-loved variety with its bright red flowers, and its compact nature makes it suitable for containers or tucked into borders to add a bit of fire to your planting.
Echinops ritro Echinops ritro For gardeners who love blue flowers, this globe thistle is a winner. Perfect spheres of steely blue make pleasing shapes in the border at this time of year and bees and butterflies are also fans. The globe thistle prefers a well-drained soil in full sun but isn’t terribly fussy and will adapt to most soils and even a little shade.
‘Veitch’s Blue’ is the best variety for smaller spaces. Great as a cut flower or for dry flower arrangements. Can you ID this tree for me? I really like the shape of it and the leaves.
John Sorbus aria This is Sorbus aria, also known as the common whitebeam. You can identify it by the silver felty undersides of the leaves. These look very beautiful when they start to unfurl in spring.
The small, green fruits pictured will mature to red by autumn. A good tree for wildlife as the spring flowers provide food for insects and the berries in autumn provide food for our bird population. Submit your gardening questions to Diarmuid via his Instagram @diarmuidgavin using the hashtag #weekendgarden Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.
