8 orange-flowered perennials to have in your garden

Agastache Barberi ‘Firebird’

Agastache barberi ‘Firebird’ boasts stunning spikes of tubular flowers in a beautiful coppery orange. Its aromatic foliage, with a menthol scent, fills the borders in summer. This variety is always highly valued for the warm and vibrant hue of its flowers, and for its long and generous summer flowering, from July to October. Another advantage: its highly melliferous character, which is a treasure for bees and other pollinators. Its flowers are also edible and will enhance summer salads.

This variety is also distinguished by its excellent hardiness, better than that of other agastaches (-15°C in very well-drained soil and a sheltered position).

With its very graphic spikes, held well above the foliage, it forms a compact clump, reaching 60 cm in height in all directions.

In the garden, it thrives in full sun or light shade in the south of our country, in good garden soil that is not too calcareous and well-drained, as it dislikes excess water. Reserve a warm spot sheltered from cold winds and severe frosts. In pots, watering must be monitored to ensure it blooms abundantly until autumn.

In borders, flower beds, and mixed borders, it will easily pair with Heleniums, Echinaceas ‘Big Kahuna’, or even Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder Orange’, provided the soil is not too dry.

Agastache barberi ‘Firebird’

→To learn everything about Agastaches, discover our complete guide: “Agastache: planting, growing, and caring for”

Delosperma 'Wheels of Wonder Orange'

Here is a stunning bright orange flowering version of Delosperma! This succulent plant is part of the new varieties from the ‘Wheels of Wonder’ series, featuring truly vibrant colours, more vigorous growth, and increased floriferousness. The light green succulent foliage of the Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder Orange’ is abundantly covered from May-June to September with beautiful 3 cm daisy-like flowers, twice the size of the species and brilliantly coloured.

Reaching a height of 15 cm, it quickly carpets rockeries or the tops of walls, spreading up to 1 m wide if conditions are suitable.

Semi-hardy down to -10 °C, it is best placed in a pot or container in regions prone to severe frosts.

A true dry rock garden plant, the perennial purslane loves the sun, tolerates drought well, and requires very well-drained, rather poor soil, even stony or sandy.

Pair it with other undemanding ground-cover perennials such as Sedums and Dianthus.

Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder’

→To learn all about Delospermas, discover our complete guide: Delosperma, perennial purslane: plant and grow

Echinacea 'Big Kahuna'

Robust and particularly floriferous, Echinacea ‘Big Kahuna’ is a recent hybrid variety that stands out for its intensely cheerful flowering! Selected in 2014 at the renowned American nursery Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., it is part of the “Prairie Pillars” series.

From July to September, it produces well-straightened stems of excellent stature, topped with large daisy-like flowers of intense mango orange. Its large heads, 10 cm wide, are centred around a prominent, bristly reddish-brown core and are highly attractive to butterflies.

Of medium height, it grows in a dense, compact clump reaching 50 cm in all directions.

It is a child of the sun that requires a very sunny exposure. It thrives in any good deep, fertile, and well-drained soil.

Remarkably colourful and dazzling, this variety brings a lot of dynamism and cheerfulness to border plantings. It will be the ideal companion for other perennials with strong hues that, like it, require little maintenance, such as Yarrow, Asters, or Agastaches. Accent the scene with some ornamental grasses like Stipa tenuifolia.

Echinacea ‘Big Kahuna’

→To learn all about echinaceas, check out our complete guide: Echinaceas – sowing, cultivation, and maintenance

Iris germanica 'Brindisi'

With its stunning appearance and unique, intense hue, this Iris germanica ‘Brindisi’ is as flamboyant as it is elegant. In May-June, it captivates with its silky flowers in a rich, incandescent colour of coppery brown-orange, iridescent with saffron. Its inflorescences with a red beard are also fragrant.

This large garden iris will reach 90 cm in height when in flower, forming increasingly ample clumps over time.

Hardy and vigorous, it grows easily in full sun and thrives in well-drained, rather dry soil.

In a colourful mixed border, this large iris will make a statement surrounded by Achillea millefolium in the same warm colours, Salvia microphylla ‘Reve Rouge’, and imperial fritillaries.

→ More inspiration: Iris germanica: 6 successful pairing ideas!

Iris germanica ‘Brindisi’

Geum 'Totally Tangerine'

This Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ is a relatively new hybrid variety of Avens, with its fruity-toned flowering sure to catch the eye. It blooms from June to August, offering pretty semi-double flowers in a zesty ripe apricot colour veined with mandarin orange, supported by slender, ramified stems reaching 70 to 80 cm in height. This sturdy variety requires no staking. Its bright green foliage perfectly highlights its dazzling flowers.

Simple, reliable, and hardy, this avens thrives in full sun or partial shade, in ordinary, cool but well-drained soil.

Versatile, it can be planted at the edges of borders, flower beds, mixed borders, rockeries, or even in pots to brighten up terraces. It pairs very well with other perennials that bloom in spring and summer, such as Daylilies or Rudbeckias. Also consider grasses and variegated Euphorbias to surround it.

→ Discover more  association ideas with avens

Avens ‘Totally Tangerine’

Helenium 'Short'n Sassy'

Here’s another lovely daisy to remedy the gloom! The Helenium ‘Short’n Sassy’ is a variety of autumn helenium, much earlier than other cultivars. From the beginning of July, and relentlessly until autumn arrives, it rewards the gardener with its sumptuous heads measuring 4 to 5 cm in diameter, bright orange washed with golden yellow, centred around a chocolate brown cone. This remarkably long flowering period accompanies the onset of autumn flowers and foliage.

This cultivar is also distinguished by its sturdy habit. The plant forms a compact clump not exceeding 45 cm in height with the same spread.

Robust, manageable, hardy, and never diseased, this helenium grows easily in full sun in any good garden soil that is rather cool in summer and well-drained.

In a naturalistic garden, it is a must-have. It forms lovely clumps with exceptional floribundity in just a few years, blooming beautifully on slopes, borders, and in containers on the terrace, as its modest size is also suitable for pot cultivation.

For a mix of fiery tones in an exuberant summer display, it pairs well with Echinaceas, kniphofias, and perennial chrysanthemums. Meanwhile, the velvety grey foliage of stachys or sages will temper the heat.

Helenium ‘Short’n Sassy’

Hemerocallis fulva 'Flore Pleno'

Fierly, this Daylily certainly is! The Daylily ‘Flore Pleno’ enchants us with its large, very double flowers, measuring 15cm across, composed of 12 to 18 bright orange petals veined with red. Flowering occurs in July and August, and although the flowers only last a day, they renew throughout the summer. Their brilliance is highlighted by a wide bouquet of ribbon-like leaves in a lovely, slightly bluish green.

Simply magnificent, it quickly forms a dense clump, reaching heights of 80cm to 1.20m when in bloom, under ideal conditions.

It will thrive best in fresh to moist, deep, well-tilled soil, in full sun, partial shade, or even in shade, where it is one of the few to flower once well-rooted.

In a large border, for a lovely contrast, pair this stately daylily with flowers in mauve or violet tones such as agapanthus, Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, verbena from Buenos Aires, or perovskias.

Hemerocalle fulva ‘Flore Pleno’

→ To cultivate them well in the garden: “Daylily: planting, cultivation, division, and maintenance”

Kniphofia 'Alcazar'

The ‘Alcazar’ variety confidently displays its “devil’s torches” with such an exotic appearance! From June to August, a multitude of large cylindrical flower spikes composed of beautifully vibrant orange-red tubular flowers rise well above fine foliage with bronze hues. The bell-shaped flowers gently fade to yellow as they bloom. This remarkable recent variety is noted for its fruity and highly vibrant colour. Pollinators flock around its colourful spikes all summer long.

This beautiful perennial with spectacular flowering quickly forms a very impressive grassy clump, reaching 1 m in height and 60 cm in diameter.

Hardy down to -10°C and low-maintenance, it thrives in full sun in any light, well-drained soil that remains cool during summer.

It will be stunning as a focal point in a large, vibrant summer border. This Kniphofia will blend well with Cannas, ornamental grasses like the dazzling Miscanthus, Inca lilies, and Anthemis tinctoria ‘Kelwayi’. To create an exotic atmosphere, it can be paired with bamboos and Phormium. Its height allows it to stand alongside taller summer-flowering perennials and tower over smaller companion plants.

→ Discover 7 pairing ideas with Kniphofia in our advice sheet!

Kniphofia ‘Alcazar’