I just typed a big long replay and GW somehow "ate" all my text before it could get posted! Arrggh! I will try again tomorrow, after I've looked up some plant tags.

Arrgghhh!

I saw a suggestion on a north Florida web site that we use certain tropicals as annuals. I made a note to look for Jatropha.

Nell

I just ordered some seeds of Red Flowering Yucca.

A grass-like aloe plant - false-yucca.

Plant grows in a clump to about 3ft. (slow growth)

Flowers: Coral red with yellow lips on tiny branches that hang from a central stalk up to 4ft. tall.

Attracts Hummingbirds and Butterflies
Great for rock gardens.

Native to the Southwest and Mexico, but hardy to -28.

Loves hot, dry locations with drainage.

Can handle coastal salt spray.

Full sun or part shade.

Sandy, alkaline soil

LOW MAINTAINENCE

I love Xeriscape plants.

Would be beautiful with Santolina, Salvias, Penstemmons, & Russian Sage for contrast.

~Annie

Color is so subjective. When does red cross into orangish red? When does red slide into purplish red? Whats the difference between burgundy, maroon, scarlet, crimson, ruby, claret, vermilion? (not to mention smoky red, cherry red, tomato red, etc. those terms at least are a little easier to envision.) And just exactly which shade is the "true red" anyways?

Im sorry but I wont be answering these questions. I just bring it up to help describe my "red bed". My goal was to have it be "true red", more or less, and also have lots of dark or reddish foliage. I have since come to the conclusion that there are lots of orangey-reds and lots of purply reds, but few "true" reds. In order to have more than five specimens, I have relaxed my standards and include many flowers that are "pretty close" to true red. If they stray too far from that section of the spectrum, they have been usually been removed. Not because Im trying to be a purist, but I find that orange red next to pink red really clashes. I have a couple photos of these that show what I mean. But, you could decide to focus instead on burgundy reds altogether, or the orange reds.

Here are my observations on plants and colors in this zone 5 red bed. Your garden may differ.

Annuals

Amaranthus not sure what kind I have, I got it in a trade. It is the backbone plant of the garden. Looks like amaranthus cruentus Hopi Red Dye.
Castor Bean "carmencita" wow! The new mainstay, a huge success this year. Highly poisonous seeds.
Impatiens edging plant
Petunia edging plant
Salvia coccinea "Lady in Red" must have. Blooms early and all summer long
Salvia splendens "Flare" somewhat orangish, but worth it for the long bloom season.
Icicle Pansies dark burgundy, long bloom when nothing else going on.
Marigold "scarlet starlet" really dark orange. Gone next year
Pennisetum Fountain Grass got buried by faster growers
Iresine so beautiful, but way, way too hot pink
Nicotiana true red
Gerber Daisies true red

Vines
Sweet Potato "blackie" great trailer, annual
Cypress vine true red, small stars. Fabulous ferny foliage, worth growing just for foliage.
Rhodochiton burgundy, but exotic and unusual. Delicate and small
Sweet 100 cherries. Grew them in the veggie garden but they are joining the fray next year.
Clematis "Asao" and "Niobe" both too pink. Theyll get moved.

Bulbs

Anemone coronaria true red!! Wonderful, long blooming, very early.
Dahlia "Arabian Night" deep smoky red, reliable
Dahlia "Bishop of Llandaff" deep red AND reddish foliage! Doesnt overwinter in my cellar though L
Dahlia "Akita" red, orange and yellow cactus. Gorgeous
Dahlia "swapper special" dont know the real name of this dahlia I got in a swap, but super hardy, early and long bloomer, nice true red. Cant give them away I have so many of them.
Iris "Samurai Warrior" more burgundy, but stays because very little else is blooming at that time.
Gladiolus Black Jack nice smoky red
Gladiolus - Sensation true red
Gladiolus Trader Horn orangy, removed
Crocosmia "Lucifer" more red than regular crocosmia, but still kind of orangy
Calla Black Beuty deep smoky burgundy red. A keeper
Lilies Monte Negro nice red!
Lilies Fangio too pinkish
Lily "Blackout" a knockout! True red.
Martagon Lilies too orange
Tulips red emperor, red riding hood deer food, sigh . . .

Perennials

Astrantia Moulin Rouge love it! Cant wait for it to "bulk up". Technically more burgundy, but oh well, too nice, have to keep it.
Primrose cherry red double, beautiful, slow to bulk up, unlike my other primroses
Daylilies "Ruby Throat" and so many wonderful true reds, but I cant find my notes right now.
Burgundy gaillardia despite the name, I consider it true red.
Hollyhock almost black. Next year trying a seed swap red.
Knautia macedonica burgundy, but just the right form airy, bulbous flower heads swaying in the breeze
Geum Mrs. Bradshaw too orange. Removing.
Poppy Allegro too orange
Poppy Brilliant too orange
Lobelia Cardinalis true red! Wonderful
Lobelia Cardinalis "Queen Victoria" true red! AND smoky red foliage. Perfect for the red bed.
Heuchera Ruby Bells true red bells! But leaves burned by too much sun.
Heuchera Palace Purple leaves too burned
Penstemon Husker Red flowers are completely wrong shade of lavender, but stems and leaves have a great smoky cast to them, and flower seedheads stay all year, even through winter.
Phlox Tenor too pink and removed
Potentilla Fire Flames too orange, removed
Fushcia magellanica orangy, but kept anyways because its the only hardy fuschia here
Firecracker flower (dichelostemma) ho hum
Monarda one true red, one burgundy red. Keep them both because theyre so nice.
Sedum Autumn Joy flowers go from light pink to dark dusty pink. Not quite right.
Sedum Matrona red stems! And flowers are better than autumn joy. Will replace AJ when large enough
Sedum Red Emperor nice dark foliage! Susceptible to root rot.
Hibiscus "Luna Red" very short, so I need to move to front of border. Have just bought new taller one, "Lord Baltimore". Ask me next year
Chrysanthemum "Helen" wonderful dark smoky red. Need to propagate more of these.
Sweet Williams "sooty" dark, smoky red, long blooming and early
Poker Plant (Kniphofia) too orange

Foliage Plants

Canna Red King Humbert ( dig tubers annually)
Cordyline Red Star Spike (annual)
Japanese Blood Grass
Bloody Dock
Smoke bush "purple robe" great foliage!
Weigela "wine and roses" ho hum
Weigela "midnight wine" ho hum
Red Barberry gorgeous fall foliage, tough, nice background
Red-leaved euphorbia

Next years list of plants to find and try are:

Red Sunflower
Scarlet runner bean
Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes on my obelisk
Sanguisorba
Ruby chard
Zinnia
Red clover

Phew!! Thats it for now, rather exhaustive list, dont you think? Sorry it took so long. Let me know what Im missing! Prefer perennials to annuals at this point. If you want seeds of anything email me late next summer and I will start saving.

Here is the location of my new redbed album on picasa, it has a few more photos than the last thread on GW.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gottagarden/RedbedSecondYear

Thanks for all your interest!

Gottagarden ~ Every time I see your red bed I gasp with the beauty of the whole thing. Your gardens are such an inspiration. You have a wonderful way with colors. Thanks for sharing.

FlowerLady

That is a beutiful garden. i have a true red lilly as red is my favorite color. I have traded with a few people but I think I will have a few left if you want to try them.
Is the amaranthus easy to grow? Should I try seed or buy a plant. I am not overly talented with seed, I don't yet have a green house or even sunroom to baby them so I try to stick with things that seed easily.

Amaranthus seeds are TOO easy. Mine self seed in the garden, rather prolifically too. In the early summer I just hoe out those I don't want, and I still have a ton. Since it is an annual, I would start from seed. I don't do much with seeds, these start themselves.

Email me and I will send my address, and I will mail seeds. I would LOVE to try some new lilies, they are definitely one of my favorite plants.

gottagarden,

I've been trying to grow a red bed for more than two seasons now. It's been an all out war between me and the deer -- so far they're winning. There are so many plants in your beds that I want to grow. I swear, once I've figured out what the deer in this area won't eat, I should publish a book. (We have more than an acre in the front garden so it's too expensive to fence. just to do one side the lowest quote i got was 40k!)

Anyway, thanx for sharing and the inspiration. I'm going to keep at it.

And just in case anyone else out there is trying to create a similar garden in deer territory, here are the plants that are working for me (so far):

euphorbia
yucca
iris
monarda
castor bean
marigold
gallardia
red hot pokers
barberry

happy gardening to all!

There is a product called 'Liquid Fence' that smells terrible for awhile, but is very effective at keeping deer off your plants. They 'learn' that it smells bad, and they quit coming around for awhile.

It is a tad expensive, but then, so are plants.

Janie

GottaGarden, Your Red Bed is spectacular, achieving that English Cottage look very nicely.

One of my favorite plants for edging is alternanthera. It's generally planted as an annual, but a little pot full in a sunny window will plant a 20' row by summer and it goes from summer green to fall red.

I just lump the reds into Crimsons (blue reds) and Scarlets (orangy reds) and put the magentas with the Crimsons and the oranges with the Scarlets, mediating them with purples and yellows in between.

Many of my beds start with yellows in February (daffodils)then magentas in April, then red, then orange (or orange, then red), then purple and yellow and maroon by October and November changing with the seasons and what comes in and out of bloom.

Nell

Thanks for posting this new thread, Foxesearth. It was needed as the other thread was getting waaaaay toooooo lonngggg......I can see why though!

WOW! What gorgeous property, Gottagarden, and I heart your red bed. Your little gardening buddies are cute as can be, too. You are definitely blessed.

I'm thinking about adding nitrogen to my soil like Gottagarden did to hers. There is alot of leaf-drop from my ash and sweet gum trees in the autumn; all over the flower beds. Wondering if the resulting leaf de-composition is depleting my soil of nitrogen? All along I thought it was a good thing... I've never raked the leaves up---I just let them decompose hoping this will enrich the soil. Hmmm... I also have quite a bit of pea gravel in the beds (from previous owner). Too much to remove so I just dig it under when digging planting holes, then backfill with bagged planting soil mixed with some garden soil. The top foot or so in most of the beds is now finally almost all dug under (its been a five + year process). I've topped most of the beds with redwood bark chips, which are also decomposing. Now I use bags of mulch instead of the bark chips. My beds have GREAT drainage...almost TOO fast. I wonder if the bark along with the leaves, are actually causing a problem. Any ideas here (should I add nitrogen??)?

Foxesearth, your progressive season gardening has me inspired! I love your natural looking flower beds and your beautiful property! And I admire how you've planned so that each emerging plant comes up just in time to cover unattractive wilting foliage of another. Something I've got to work on in my garden. Right now I've got alyssum, lobelia, and some vinca minora as bulb cover in most of my beds. The alyssum (last year's plants) is so straggly right now... wondering if there might be some better way to go about this. Will have to do some research.

Looking forward to spring and to seeing more of everyones gardens!

Becky

Becky, Interesting you mention the rapid draining. I saw a list you had of what you grow and thought it so interesting that although we are both in inland valleys that much of what you grow will not work for me.

Gottagarden, Sorry to tell you this, but scarlet runner bean is almost the same color as geum Mrs. Bradshaw. Definitely more to the orange. I love it : )

foxesearth - I love your rock wall! I'm a real rock hound, love them in all sizes, shapes and colors. Your crocosmia is so bushy and healthy. I think it's a bit marginal here for them, and they have not really increased much in 2 years. That alternanthera is also quite striking! It sounds like you treat it like coleus, just take cuttings in water? I have seen it around here in botanical gardens, but never in a nursery. Perhaps I'm too slow getting there and they are already bought. I've tried coleus in the red bed, but the full sun is too much for them. Alternanthera would be a good alternative. I will keep my eyes peeled for some this year.

Becr - leaf litter and mulch on the surface do NOT need extra nitrogen. Only if it is tilled down into the soil does it cause nitrogen depletion. However, you may need nitrogen for other reasons, but it is not because you have mulch on the surface.

Deer - jxa, sigh, you have my sympathy. The deer here are not too bad, but they wreak occasional havoc. Last year I saw all my tulips grow, bud out, almost open, then deer came and ate every last bud, every one!

Seasons - Nell, you hit on an important point that I forgot to make. My spring and early summer garden tends to be more crimson (blue red) and my late summer garden scarlet (orange red). This is just the nature of the flowers that grow at that time.
Spring - crimson - pansies, iris, peonies
Fall - cannas, salvias, etc

Debbieca - thanks for the tip on scarlet runner bean. I will probably try and grow it anyway, just for first hand experience.

Gottagarden, thanks for the response on my mulch/nitrogen question. I think part of my problem is that nutrients don't stay very long in my sandy soil. That, and the fact that the growing season is shorter due to the extreme temps (triple digits in the summer)we get here. Guess I'm spoiled, and still adjusting from my last home gardening conditions (was not quite as hot in the summertime there).

Debbie, looks like we are in the same USDA zone (both of us are in USDA zone 9). But we are not in the same Sunset zone (you are in Sunset zone 8, while I am in Sunset zone 19). That would account for the different plants you and I can successfully grow. Interesting; I will have to read up on that in The Sunset Western Garden Book (my gardening 'bible').

Oh, Gottagarden, I really love the variety of reds you have in your beds & don't find that they clash at all. Makes it rather interesting---all the same red would be boring in my NSHO (not so humble opinion). I don't think you need to move a darn thing.:-) Of course, you are the one it should please, and what appears to work in your lovely photographs may not be the same in RL (real life).

Thinking about adding some crocosmia to my beds..any helpful tips?

Happy gardening, everybody!

Becky

Crocosmia -- it's a thug for me. How many do you want?

Its biggest drawback is that it lifts itself out of the ground and eventually needs to be lifted and replanted more deeply every couple of years so it doesn't fall over. I tend to just plant it on the south side of the cannas and let it lean on them.

Nell

Hi Nell. I googled crocosmia and read that it reaches up to waist height. That would be a little tall for my smallish gardens, especially if it it a 'thug' like you say. It might take over my more dainty plantings. So, having second thoughts on that one. I do grow white gladiolas and irises at the back of my borders; tall plants but they don't seem to want to take over (yet---it's only been a couple of years in my garden for these). I am also longing for cannas...Will have to wait/see if I can squeeze anything more in to my almost full up beds on my postage stamp size property. Aaaahh... the virtues of a larger property.
-Becky

It's such a good time to dream and plan and stay inside with a cup of cocoa. I ventured out in the cold northeast wind (--are you all sending that my way?) to make photos of where I'd LIKE a red bed this summer.

If it never makes it to reality, it's fun to plan. If I plant in the firebreak, it can be mowed on each side; otherwise weeds and grass will eat it all. I'm getting my seeds together and working on the plan. I'm hoping all the other beds will be full of returning 'iffy' sub-tropical perennials and reseeders.

You have a lot of space Nell! That's when annuals are so handy, the way they fill in that space so quickly. Post back in the summer and let us know how it turns out. You can grow a lot of tender plants that I can't (loropetalum, lycoris, etc.) Have fun!

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