If you want an eye-catching flower garden filled with vibrant color, a mixture of red blooming perennials are must-have plants for your landscape. Planting several varieties of red blooming perennials with a staggered bloom time will keep the beauty going from spring till fall, attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and add a touch of exotic color and texture an otherwise green landscape background. These five red blooming perennials are easy-care, hardy in most zones, and will catch the eye of humans and wildlife alike.
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Red Lobelia
There are many height variations for easy-care red lobelia. Mature plant heights can range from a compact three inches to a towering three feet. Whichever plant variation you choose, they all have one thing in common; lobelia loves cold weather and will produce their best flowers in the cool of spring and fall, blooming until the first killer frost of fall. Red lobelia will bloom during the heat of summer if planted in partial shade, and the soil is mulched to help keep the plants cool.
Lobelia can be started from seeds sown directly into the soil or from plants. For the reddest blooms per season, fertilize once in the early spring with a balanced fertilizer and water only during drought times.
Red Trillium
Red trillium is a native plant in the eastern portion of the United States. The flowering plant grows wild in any moist, wooded area between Canada and Georgia and Alabama’s deep southern regions. This red flowering plant spreads via underground rhizomes and will fill in a troubled garden space within a few years. Thriving in damp, shady soil where most other flowers refuse to grow, red trillium produces three-leafed red flowers throughout the summer that are adored by wildlife.
Red Daylillies
Plant red daylilies as a colorful backdrop of a perennial flower garden. Daylilies grow to a mature height of three feet and will produce several vibrant blooms on top of a single slender stalk. Red daylilies don’t fade and make long-lasting cut flowers. Plant daylilies in full sun and fertilize once in early spring. These vibrant and hardy flowers will spread via underground tubers and need little care except dividing plants every three-four years to prevent overcrowding.
Columbine
This is an old-fashioned, cottage type flower that has been a favorite for several generations. Red colombine is most at home in partial shade and moist, rich soil. The plants reach a mature height of between one and three feet and produce single blooms short-lived. Planting a patch of columbines and leaving some of the plants’ spent flowers so they can re-seed themselves will provide vibrant red blooms all summer that will produce nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies. If self-seeding is not desired, deadhead blooms when they fade.
Catchfly Silene laciniata
The red catchfly Silene laciniata perennial loves sandy soil and thrives in a beachy climate. To make the eye-catching, hairy plant with the unusual name at home in your garden, add sand to existing soil to make half-and-half sand to the soil mixture. While the plant thrives in sandy soil and a beach environment, it does not fare well in drought conditions and will require regular maintenance to survive in regions with little rain. Catchfly is a native plant that grows along the coast from Texas to California, producing brilliant red flowers on 16-inch tall stems all summer long. Despite the flower’s name, it does not catch flies, but the vibrant red blooms rich in nectar will attract hummingbirds. The red catchfly Silene laciniata grows equally well when planted in-ground or in a container.