While traditionally we see a lot of cool colors in a cottage garden setting, I love adding splashes of firey color here and there. Not only am I a fan of gaudy colors, but some of my wooded backdrops are dark and shadowy, and hot colors look great against them.
What plants do you use to add fire to the cottage garden?
Darwin hybrid tulips and daffodils warm things up in April.
Memories of late summer still fresh in my mind, the garden looks so empty in early spring, but the color that is there is such a welcome sight!
Fritillaria imperialis is dramatic and a glowing ember in the garden.
Sweet William dianthus brings warmth to May.
Toward the end of May through June, roses and lilies steal the show. Floribunda rose 'Charisma' sure adds some heat.
Asiatic lily 'Linda' is bright and warm.
Ooops, sent the washed out pic. Here's the "real" 'Linda'
Echinacea 'Big Sky Sundown' has been a winner so far in my garden.
Lilies keep the show going through the heat of summer.
Crocosmia 'Lucifer', Monarda 'Jacob Cline', Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum', and daylilies bring on the summer heat!
It does'nt have to be a flower to be hot! 'Red Velvet' coleus:
The petals of Gloriosa look like little flames to me. Its growing up a red trumpet honeysuckle.
This message was edited Nov 20, 2006 5:45 PM
The brick red and straw gold of Lily 'Scheherezade' add subtle warmth and drama.
This message was edited Nov 20, 2006 5:51 PM
What heats up your cottage garden?
This is Lily 'Zagorra'
Wow! Great garden! I love those primulas you have tucked in there -- they are burgundy and gold, right? Did you start them fro seed or buy them? I need so many I htoght seed might be a good idea.
Do you have flowers over those bulbs? The reason I ask is because I planted bulbs within my perennials but I'm not sure how well they'll do if I dig in there too often.
For bright colors, I just bought some bright red delphinium. It doesn't look like a big fat ones more of a tall thin one LOL!
They are:
1 Delphinium carolinianum
1 Delphinium nudicaule 'Redcap'
1 Delphinium nudicaule 'Laurin'
The first one is tall, but the others 2 are only 2 feet tall. I think they are annuals, but don't bloom all summer like marigolds. Heck, I don't know what I bought -- I was looking for delphinium cardinale and when I got to this seed place (where I had a hit on google) I got side tracked and bought these. I am still looking for delphinium cardinale. LOL!
I want to know about that Gloriosa Vine Lily flower -- what is it, how do you grow it? Is it from seed or a plant? Is it hardy? LOL!
Suzy
Thanks Suzy!
Those primula were originally given to me several years ago, and they multiply like crazy. They're never invasive, but the clumps keep getting thicker and you can divide them every year till you've got them everywhere you want. They are dark red and yellow; I just love 'em! I have plenty and would be happy to trade or share in spring.
Most of my bulbs do end up with other things growing on top of them, especially tulips. I plant tulips about 8" deep, so it has'nt been a problem digging around them. I just try to make sure I don't plant anything over them that needs watering in summer, as tulips like to be dry during dormancy. My soil is sandy, so not much of a problem.
The Gloriosa is a vining tender bulb (or actually a tuber I think), usually available in spring from most bulb sources.
Those delphiniums sound beautiful! I've had lousy luck with delphiniums, I assume because of our hot summers. Do you grow other delphiniums?
Here's a close up of the primula with species tulip tarda and moneywort lysimachia:
Gorgeous combination! Seriously something that should be in a book.
Yes! We'll trade for some of those primulas....I love them all, but have always liked those specifically because they go so well with daffodil golden yellow. I go to the National Daffodl Conventons where they have garden tours and see them, especially on the East coast. But never see any pods, and sometimes I don't know the garden owner, so nothing there, but sometimes I do know them, but they end up forgetting or moving and I still don't have them after all this time.
I don't grow any delphiniums, who knows how they'll do? I suspect they'll bloom and die like poppies do, leaving a hole. BUT I shall have them outsmarted and plant something like dahlias next to them which will take up any space. Or that's the plan, the reality might be I throw out some seed and hope for the best.
Suzy
wow Neal! Now that's a lot of sizzle and spice.
Here's my Brilliant Poppy doing its thing with the Baptisia Australius trying
to calm it down just behind it a bit.
Tam
And how about a little touch of red in the center of yellow lily Grand Cru
flowering amongst the glorious bloom of larkspur along the same fence line
a few weeks later.
Tam
Strange I've never noticed any seeds on those primula either. I saw in a catalog some primula that looked like another bloom emerged from the center of another and thought it was so cool. Then, after all these years growing these I noticed they show this trait too.
Tammy, those poppies are gorgeous! A great choice for adding some fire. I've grown Oriental poppies before years ago and would love to have them again. The poppies I've tried so far have'nt been able to deal with the partial shade. They were Iceland poppies and did ok, but got pretty floppy. And I have never had any luck getting Oriental poppy seed to germinate, and of course those are my favorites.
I like to add touches of white, blue, and purple to the hot colors to cool them down a bit too. Baptisia is great for that, and the foliage is cool and blue-ish too.
Beautiful, Tammy! Yellows and golds are sunny and warm too, as well as the red in the center. Larkspur are one of my favorites, especially since perennial delphinium does'nt do much here.
Neal, I really like hot colors in the garden. Your Sweet Williams are a great color of red and I also love your red poppies Tammy. One plant that has not bloomed for me yet, but hopefully will next summer is LYCHNIS coronaria Gardener's World. I think the red blooms and the grey foliage should be perfect together.
Susan
Saratoga Springtime is an early blooming red and yellow daylily that blooms at the same time as a bright yellow achillia.
Lily Loreto is another hot combination. Looks a little like Saratoga Springtime daylily doesn't it?
Orange Pixie asiatic lily
One of the center beds in the back garden I call "The Burning Bed". Heat of the Moment is one daylily there.
Also Sudden Fire.
Tropical Heat Wave
geminisage i love that second picture-id love some woods to garden in-flat farm land
and 1/4mile back to the woods here! to far for me!
Frank Smith. Well, you get the idea, it is not a quiet bed. I do have some blue and purple in there too to cool things off a little.
'Charisma' looks like it might fit right into the Burning Bed. Here is a red Hollyhock that volunteered to grow by my compost heap last year.
Scarlett Orbit, All Fired Up and Wild One fight it out together.
Red Volunteer is a bright, pure red. Almost glows.
Crown of Creation is a bold orange gold color.
Susan, your daylilies are wonderful! Does that Saratoga Springtime have extra petals and sepals? Very cool looking. Frank Smith has extra rich coloring too.
Love those pompom blooms on Gardeners World lychnis. Do any of you have experience with it? I'm wondering if it reseeds like the single varieties, as some double flowered cultivars are sterile (and I'd like for it to reseed).
Thanks, notmartha. Here its been a matter of clearing bits of the woods to let some sun in; woodland gardening has been a real learning experience. All the little white dots in the background are trillium; they're everywhere here and that was one of the things that really made me "have" to move here.
I think Gorgette is an Orienpet. I do seem to have a lot of things that combine red and yellow.
Tropical Heat Wave, Love it! Now thats an eye catcher.
That was a poly bloom on the Saratoga Springtime. Not normal for it, but sure was neat. Do the trillion reseed on their own? Someone gave me one about 10 years ago and it is still just one little thing that pops up each year. Outrageous is every brighter than Frank Smith. I guess I like gaudy too.
Godzilla was a new lily for me last summer and not very many blooms, but I think it will be a favorite when it gets established. The edges are a little more yellow than they look in this photo.
