New "Hot Bed"....looking for advice.

I am planting a new "hot bed" for DH, as he put river rocks in a certain area and said, why don't we have some bright colors right there?

Now, you must understand, I have nothing against orange, red or yellow. I just don't have many in the gardens. Yes, there are yellow daffodils and maybe a few tulips that the squirrels or gophers have not eaten. I have already aquiesed (sp?) one of the beds to a "Peach of a Garden", another color I had not planned on using, and it was interesting to see what plants came in that color or near to it....yes - a warm garden. That one is still a bit of a challenge as well. In fact I thought about incorporating the plants I have in it, but I don't think I will have that much more room.

Most of my gardens are either in pinks, purples and blues, a "White Flower Border", another White Daisy Garden, which has been now merged into the white flower border and a "Dark Side Garden", of which the plants have either dark flowers and/or dark leaves. So there are quite an interesting variety in there with all sorts of things in it.

The main book that I use to search for color blending is Gertrude Jeckyll's Color Schemes for the Flower Garden. I have others, but what I am trying to figure out is what plants will bloom at the same time. I realize that it is different in every area and even in different years in the same garden, but at least an idea.

I have started with pale yellow at both edges and then progressing to bright yellow, then yellow-orange, with red being in the center. I think I will be shifting the plants all around all season just to try and get them right. There will be some bronze towards the back, as well as a darker red.

I have read in several books about Alyssum saxatile citrinum, but I have not found it on any plant or seed list. It is supposed to be a softer yellow than the species. I want to use more soft yellow in the scheme so everything does not appear to brash, though maybe the name of this garden should be "Brash and Sassy"! I need a better name. (That one is not an original idea either...)

I'll be back with my plant list. But in the mean time, feel free to share your own experiences with such a bold idea as using all hot colors. I have even thought of throwing in some blues after it is all done, just to give it some contrast, but not so sure on that, as when I have even planted all that I am growing as well as what I have ordered, there may not be much room left. I am already expanding the size of it, as it was formerly a bulb garden. That part that has not been worked (hard, red clay) is really a challenge to me as I am getting to the age of not planting anymore new gardens....I think this will be my last...unless we move someday. I will cross that bridge when we come to it.

How about knipophia.... http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/818/
or galardias.... http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71471/

Well if you like the Brits for color advice, you should definitely pick up one of Christopher Lloyd's books. Maybe Color for or Exotic Planting for the Adventurous Gardener. He's the king of the hot border!

catzgalore ~ Thanks for your suggestion. I am starting some Gaillardia 'Mesa Yellow' from seed and have some knifophia on order from a co-op.

Would love to see pics of your hotbed when it's done :)

Sure! Only thing is, is a garden bed ever "done"? For sure I will be moving things all around and getting them riled up at me for it...LOL!!

Here it is from today, as it has been started, but very far from finished. You cannot see the daylilies and lilies that were planted yesterday.

here's part of my 'hot bed' in October. Dahlias are big in the 'hot bed'. as are crocosmia

Here's that bed in august the year before. you can see the level of crocosmia I have. And several kinds of hot colored dahlias, along with deep salmon colored 'geraniums'. I also have hot colored lilies in this bed. One of my favorites is called 'giraffe' and it's very tall with yellow and orange blooms. sounds tacky, but, in fact, it's a great lily. It's a complete riot of color in the late summer and fall. You'll love having a 'hot bed' to play in. Love christopher Lloyd's book Color for the Adventurous Gardner. He was the best.
You could probably do well with red castor beans, or the New Zealand Purple ones (which would look awesome with orange oriental lilies). Your location would support castor beans better than mine.

I had some blue in this bed but found it to be too much. I cool it down a bit with that tall white phlox you see (David) and with foliage plants, some of which have a bluish cast to them, like the Euphorbia you can barely see in the foreground.

I'm with you on the yellows. some yellows are just brash rather than bold.

What a glorious riot of color. Makes me want to kick of my shoes and dance. I'm pretty sure I hear some reggae playing...

I like to pretend I'm in a warm, tropical place :)

If you haven't done castor beans in pots before, know that they hate having their roots crowded and sometimes will not get to be the size they could when that happens. I started a lot of them last winter and had to pot up to the next size about 3 times before I could get them planted out.


It changes pretty much every year, but generally the Dahlia coccinea and many of the lilies are in bloom around the middle of July. The 'geraniums' are always in bloom when i put them out, so they are continual during the summer and fall. The other dahlias begin to bloom in August, I think. I know that the lily 'Giraffe' blooms at the same time as my big orange dahlia, which probably didn't make it through this winter, but which I will replace.

I don't get "hot bed"... what does the term mean?

The term refers mostly to the colors. ie: reds, oranges, things with hotter colors of the color wheel.

Don't forget poppies when you're thinking hot. The big red oriental poppies are hardy here and I love the self-sowing Atlantic poppy in orange.

And then there's Rudbeckia and Echinacea. I like the Geums and they are tough. I'll echo the Crocosmia. Roses, of course, can add to the riot of colors.

Nasturtiums and other squash flowers can give you a lot of hot color in the summer in boxes and there are more and more hot colors all the time.

so true, Katie. I have icelandic poppies in this bed in the spring when there isn't much other action (especially THIS spring, brrrr.) And I have Geum and roses as well. I love lantana and a couple of years back I tried some in this bed, but it needs more heat than I can give it.

Thanks, Evelyn. Color combinations is one of my favorite parts of gardening.

Yes, right now, I have Iceland poppies, violas, crocus, daffodils now in bloom. I will put in some gerberas once the weather warms up a bit. I did put a couple in, (as well as a geranium) but it snowed after warming up nicely, so they have to be taken out to recuperate. One gerbera froze solid in its pot and is coming back nicely in a sunny window.

I have tried geum before without much success, and I will stick to what works for now. If I feel more adventurous later I may try them again.

Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking the manure underneath 'hotbed' - a big area if you were doing that!

I was always told that roses prefer to be in a bed by themselves. Its nice to see you can break the rules and get away with it.

Its still too cold here to do anything but remove weedlings here on the Queen Charlottes. o well...

Yikes now it's hailing really hard. LOL

I'd say most of us on this forum are gardening 'rule' breakers. LOL! Some of us are even so unaware of the rules, we don't know when we are breaking them! :)

It rained all day, today, so I am glad I held back on the gerbera daisies, as they really like it warm. Also, I did not want to chance a frost when the weather clears, as it often does after a spring rain. At least it isn't snowing, for now.

Pixydish ~ Have you added any new plants to your colorful bed this year?

Actually, I was looking to find out which plants bloom at the same time and look well together. I will, of course, be filling in with lots of annuals which have been started from seed.

I like the website here since it is sharing "real people's" experiences, as opposed to "experts". I do read a lot of ideas in many places as well as gardening books and magazines, and then try and see which works here. I imagine that many of you on the PNW forum has climate similar to England, but here in NoCA foothills, it is rather hot most summers, following cold winters. During the summer there is very little if no precipitation, but wet, cold and soggy winters. Yeah, and we have hard clay soil, deer and gophers among other obstacles. I used a lot of repellant on this last planting. I am shocked to see all the flowers still on the plants. I have neglected to spray during the winter, and that is where I see damage and losses in other areas. Well, one area at a time now.

Evelyn, I admire your fortitude to garden well under your conditions. I think your 8a is a bit tougher than what we have here. I had ice this morning. I have an unberella over the two tomatoes that I have and plastic for night time. I bought one red and one yellow cherry toms. I'm a basics follower but not a rule follower.
I am moving to Bremerton soon and will be in a much milder climate and it's only 45 minutes away from here. I'm potting up starts of my favorites. I had the Master Gardeners here on three different days to dig up plants and its hard to tell where they were digging.

I don't put out my tomatoes and other tender veggies until May 16th. Last year I tried putting a few out sooner, and it did not save me any time. Fortunately, I had more tomato seedlings waiting under remay until it was a bit warmer, as covering the ones I planted in my square foot gardens didn't really seem to make much difference as it snowed then frost and after that, more rain, then hail. I just made a "lean-to" tent clipping some remay to the fence and put the seedlings under it. (The other obstacle is my age...I will be 70 in November!) Thanks!

I am still looking for what warm-colored flowers look good together and bloom together. I have a bunch of callas coming from a co-op. I will plant them in gallon cans and then plunge them into the ground...that is what they call it. Then I will just take them out when late fall comes and put them in the basement. I will try that with a few of the dahlias and cannas as well as the chocolate comos. I am not going to buy them again! I don't think the gophers or ground squirrels will eat through the plastic pots. And I will be able to find them easier. I might even try that with some of the prize tulips. I am so tired of feeding the critters with expensive salad greens! (...and bulbs!)

Last year on April 20th we had quite a bit of snow....

How awesome that the MGs came to dig with you, WW. I didn't realize that was something they did.

Ev___, I'm sure that 'plunging' a pot will help a lot and will at least slow down the critters.

I have a hard time coordinating bloom time. It's pretty much a happy 'accident' if things bloom together. It would look so much better though if I planned. hahahaha

Chocolate cosmos! I completely forgot about that plant, which I used to grow every year. I have to buy it as an annual as it never seems to make it through the winter. Now I'm going to have to find it again.

I have not yet put any new plants in the 'hot' bed, but I am growing a number of dahlia coccinea from seed to replace the ones that didn't make it through the winter. A couple of them are a dark leaved variety, but they were open pollinated so I don't know what they will look like. that's part of the fun, I guess. Also waiting to see if my banana made it through the winter.

We had a "banana unveiling" ceremony last weekend and were thrilled to find that it has survived. This was our third attempt, thanks to the continued gererosity of Azorina, and we have learned a lot from this group about winter protectrion of the banana.

Sorry to go off-topic but had to share our good news. Now, if only the red banana would survive the winter, that is spectacular at Pixy's house for hot-bed color.

Oh, a red banana would be spectacular. I think I will have to settle for canna, though. I have a Tropicanna in another bed. I will dig it out and put it in a pot and bring it inside to warm up so possibly I will see it bloom this year, or even get up to size.

With our cold, wet winters, the cannas and callas take so long to emerge. I have not seen any flowers on them for quite a while. I have callas on order as well...LOL!! So in those pots...oh, no! I have to go and get more pots from the nursery.

It's been raining off and all all day. I think I will get them next week when I am in town. Gasoline is over $4.00 now so I usually do not make any extra special trips.

Evelyn, I have only had success overwintering the regular white callas. It seems like the various colored ones are a lot more tender.

Congratulations on your banana surviving! I hope mine did. I had three in the ground. I think one is still okay. The other two, I'm not sure yet. Of course, it's been too cold for there to be any growth yet.
The red banana is firmly ensconced in my office now and it's just too big to move so if I want one for the hot bed again this year, I'll have to buy another. Here's the banana in its new digs. It has a lot more leaves now, but it is not as red as it was outside. It's growing faster now that the sun is out more, so maybe I'll get a nicer red color as summer comes on.

Wow, that is big! How much more head room does it have before it reaches the ceiling? Love it,

Yes, that is SOME banana! :-)

It's almost touching the ceiling already. I want it to grow 'out' a little but I had an infestation of spider mites on a day it got pretty warm in the office. So I had to treat all the plants. The banana didn't appreciate it much and I had to remove a few leaves. It's putting out more, though.