Orange is a standout in the garden. Why? It’s fun, it mixes with purples and blues well, and adding it to the vegetable garden or herbaceous border creates a bold focal point and helps move the eye along a busy composition.
Here’s a tulip called ‘Orange Princess’ which is a delight in late spring - look at the striping on the outer petals - such a delicious flame of warm colors!
‘Orange Princess’ is a late double flowering type that makes a beautiful cut flower. Blooms mid-May in my Vermont garden in USDA Zone 5.
One of my all-time favorites is the tender annual Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) which I sow directly in early June or transplant from the greenhouse or garden nursery. These are multi-branched plants that grow up to 6’ tall, lasting well until frost, drawing butterflies to their disc flowers and attracting a host of other pollinators. I usually grow in the vegetable garden along the split-rail fence; another good cut flower. Look for ‘Fiesta del Sol’ from Park Seed if you have limited space - it’s a compact cultivar that only grows to 30”. Tithonia makes a good combination with annual sunflowers and zinnias.
Below: Orange daylily cultivars are worth seeking out for the edges of beds and borders - easy to grow, they fall into the low maintenance category and will multiply over time making them a good investment.
Above: I really don’t know what type of daylily these are but I love their positioning along stairs at Longwood Gardens where their vibrancy helps define a transitional area. The luxuriant petals are slightly ruffled; even the new buds are interesting to look at.
Below: Don’t forget about heleniums (commonly called sneezeweed) - these North American plants are being hybridized with more and more available every year in various heights and bi-colors. Here are some I found in London at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the Double Herbaceous Border during the height of summer last year (mid-August).
Helenium cultivars I’ve grown include H. ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’, ‘Mardi Gras’, and ‘Moerheim Beauty’, a jazzy orange with splashes of yellow on its petals that grows to 36” tall.
Above: Marigolds are a staple in my garden and I adore their spicy scent and tough resilience - they’re one of the longest lasting annuals, blooming into November through light frosts. Deadhead to promote new growth. I usually plant these with the annual ‘Victoria’ sage for that orange-blue combination.
Below: Look at this structure I found at the Montreal Botanic Gardens - super fun! Someone had the brilliant idea of using shipping pallets to build a wall within a flower display. I especially love how the deep purple begonia foliage and the magenta and pink flowers look with the bright orange background.
And finally, a deciduous shrub with orange fruit - this is Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Gold’. It falls into the low maintenance category, suitable for wet or dry sites, but prefers sun and females must have a male winterberry planted nearby to fruit well (the genus is dioecious meaning there are male and female plants). Try putting one in your garden and snipping the branches for an indoor arrangement in the doldrums of February. Birds also love the berries.
