Easy garden rainbows is a series of articles intended to give you suggestions for very easy flowering plants to grow, one colour of the rainbow at a time. In true rainbow tradition, red comes first.
In this list you will find my top recommendations for red plants. Some are very traditional suggestions, while others are a little modern in style. I am writing from the wet west coast of British Columbia, but you will find many very hardy plants for colder climates.
The Effect of Red
There are so many types of red. There is fire-engine red - an alarming eye-catcher. There is rusty red, which can add an air of sophistication and refinement to flower border schemes without adding gaudiness. There is retina-burning red, which clots out all other colours to the exclusion of only itself. Then there is what people refer to as cool red, which seems a bit of an oxymoron, but I've seen it, so I know it exists. This red has a touch of blue, and can be just as staggering as the above. This article focusses on the many differing shades of red. If you want red in your garden, try one of the plants described below. All are very easy to grow in temperate climates (zonal information is attatched) and commonly available.
Beebalm Monarda didyma is a very hardy perennial which is closely related to mint. You'll know this when you brush past its foliage - its smell is fresh and almost like getting a whiff of a cup of earl grey tea. Bergamot is another common name for this plant, as well as the variety of orange that flavours earl grey.
Its flowers are bright red tubes, held in ball-shaped clusters at the ends of two to three-foot stems. There are also white, light pink and lilac varieties, but the best colour comes in the red form. Click here to see a nice picture of them.
Like mint, Beebalm likes moist soil. This plant is not at all drought tolerant, but in the proper placement of full sun or partial shade, this plant blooms and blooms again. If planted in full shade, Monarda will not bloom well and may become victim to powdery mildew. For areas with lots of rainfall, there are mildew resistant varieties.
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