Flower color
Red flowers
442 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 442 plants
How this list is made
Derived from each plant's flower color tags and bloom colors, as stored in the BloomsEye library, which was written with AI assistance. Of these 442 plants, 308 have been checked against outside sources (20 fully verified); the rest have not been checked yet, and each plant's own page says which. The cards are AI-generated illustrations.
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 442 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 8–101.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
American Hophornbeam
Ostrya virginiana
Part shadeZones 3–932 ftModerate
Anna's Red
Helleborus × hybridus 'Anna's Red'
Part shadeZones 5–81.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Apeldoorn
Tulipa 'Apeldoorn'
Full sunZones 3–82 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Aphrodite Sweetshrub
Calycanthus 'Aphrodite'
Full sunZones 5–99 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Arabian Night
Dahlia 'Arabian Night'
Full sunZones 8–103.5 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Arctic Rose Azalea
Rhododendron 'Arctic Rose'
Part shadeZones 5–83.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Arizona Glow
Thunbergia alata 'Arizona Glow'
Full sunZones 10–118 ftModerate
Arizona Sun
Gaillardia × grandiflora 'Arizona Sun'
Full sunZones 3–91 ftLow
Artisan Red Ombre Coneflower
Echinacea 'PAS1257973'
Full sunZones 4–92 ftModerate
Australia
Canna 'Australia'
Full sunZones 7–105 ftHigh
Autumn Blaze Maple
Acer × freemanii 'Jeffersred'
Full sunZones 3–850 ftModerate
Autumn Bonfire Encore Azalea
Rhododendron 'Robleza'
Part shadeZones 6–92.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Autumn Bravo Encore Azalea
Rhododendron 'Conlen'
Part shadeZones 6–103.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Autumn Embers Encore Azalea
Rhododendron 'Conleb'
Part shadeZones 6–93 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Autumn Fire
Hylotelephium 'Autumn Fire'
Full sunZones 3–91.5 ftLow
Autumn Fire Encore Azalea
Rhododendron 'Roblez'
Part shadeZones 6–92.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Autumn Sage
Salvia greggii
Full sunZones 7–92.5 ftModerate
Avant-Garde
Rosa 'Delgramat'
Full sunZones 5–95 ftModerate
Avant-garde Clematis
Clematis 'Evipo033'
Full sunZones 4–910 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bandana Cherry
Lantana 'Bandana Cherry'
Full sunZones 9–111.5 ftLow
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bee Balm
Monarda
Full sunZones 3–93 ftModerate
Benary's Giant Wine
Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Wine'
Full sun3.5 ftModerate1.5 ft wide
FoliageBeni-Kaze
Hakonechloa macra 'Beni-Kaze'
Part shadeZones 5–91.5 ftModerate
Berry Heavy
Ilex verticillata 'Spravy'
Full sunZones 3–98 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Berry Poppins
Ilex verticillata 'FarrowBPop'
Full sunZones 3–94 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bicolor Marigold
Tagetes patula 'Bicolor'
Full sun12 inModerate12 in wide
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bishop of Llandaff
Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'
Full sunZones 8–103.5 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bishop's Children
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Full sunZones 8–102.5 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bixby Azalea
Rhododendron 'Bixby'
Part shadeZones 5–82 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Black Ball
Centaurea cyanus 'Black Ball'
Full sunZones 2–112.5 ftLow
Black Diamond Red Hot
Lagerstroemia 'Black Diamond Red Hot'
Full sunZones 7–911 ftLow
Black Star
Gladiolus 'Black Star'
Full sunZones 8–104 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Blackberry Merlot Hibiscus
Hibiscus 'Blackberry Merlot'
Full sunZones 4–94.5 ftModerate
Blaze
Schizachyrium scoparium 'Blaze'
Full sunZones 3–92.5 ftLow
Blaze Climbing Rose
Rosa 'Blaze'
Full sunZones 6–811 ftModerate
Blood Moon Rhododendron
Rhododendron 'Blood Moon'
Part shadeZones 5–87 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
FoliageBloodgood
Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'
Part shadeZones 5–820 ftModerate
Bordeaux Dwarf Yaupon Holly
Ilex vomitoria 'Condeaux'
Full sunZones 7–93 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Brilliant
Dianthus deltoides 'Brilliant'
Full sunZones 3–98 inLow
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Bronze Beauty Cleyera
Ternstroemia gymnanthera 'Conthery'
Part shadeZones 7–109 ftModerate
Burgundy
Gaillardia × grandiflora 'Burgundy'
Full sunZones 3–92 ftLow
Burgundy Geranium
Pelargonium 'Burgundy'
Full sun1.5 ftModerate1.5 ft wide
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Burgundy Mum
Chrysanthemum 'Burgundy'
Full sunZones 5–92 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Burgundy Petunia
Petunia 'Burgundy'
Full sun12 inModerate1.5 ft wide
Burgundy Snapdragon
Antirrhinum 'Burgundy'
Full sun2.5 ftModerate12 in wide
Burning Hearts
Dicentra 'Burning Hearts'
Part shadeZones 3–910 inModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Burning Love Japanese Leucothoe
Leucothoe keiskei 'Opstal 50'
Part shadeZones 6–102.5 ftModerate
California Fuchsia
Epilobium canum
Full sunZones 7–112 ftLow
Campfire Red Ember Bidens
Bidens ferulifolia 'DPWBIDCAPR'
Full sunZones 9–118 inModerate
Canna Lily
Canna
Full sunZones 7–105 ftHigh
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Part sunZones 3–93.5 ftHigh
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Carolina Allspice
Calycanthus floridus
Part shadeZones 4–97.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Castle Rouge Blue Holly
Ilex × meserveae 'Hach 1'
Full sunZones 5–76.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Cat's Eye Dwarf Bearded Iris
Iris 'Cat's Eye'
Full sunZones 4–91.5 ftModerate
Listed as toxic to dogs and cats
Catalina Perfume
Ribes viburnifolium
Part shadeZones 8–103.5 ftLow
Cedar Sage
Salvia roemeriana
Part shadeZones 7–101.5 ftLow
Celosia
Celosia
Full sun1.5 ftModerate12 in wide
Center Stage Coral Crape Myrtle
Lagerstroemia indica 'SMNLIJ'
Full sunZones 7–99 ftModerate
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.
Spring
March, April and May
202 plants
Summer
June, July and August
339 plants
Fall
September, October and November
215 plants
Winter
December, January and February
14 plants
Red flowers for shade
105 of these 442 plants will flower in less than a full day of sun.
The longest-blooming red flowers
89 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 10 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
44 plants
Middle of the border
12 in to 3 ft
213 plants
Back of the border
3 ft and up
136 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.