Orange flowers are among the brightest and most cheerful blooms you’ll come across in the home garden or nursery. These fiery blooms are an ideal addition to landscaping concepts and can help add contrast and fragrance to your borders and flower beds.
Orange Flowers That Bloom in Spring and Summer
Orange flowers feature prominently in spring and summer flower arrangements. Many orange flowers, such as daylilies, are perennials that will come back year after year. Others, like marigolds, are grown as annuals and die back in the fall.
Daylilies: Daylilies are edible perennials that come in a striking array of different colors, including yellow. Daylilies are useful for providing erosion control in landscaping and are one of the most adaptable flowers in the world.
Marigolds: Marigolds are annuals that grow quickly in early spring. These plants continue to put out loads of bright orange blooms throughout spring and summer. They’re one of the last flowers to still be producing up to the winter frost. Marigolds are also grown in the vegetable garden since their smell deters various insect pests.
Lantana: Lantana is a perennial shrub that comes in various colors, but one of the most common colors is a variegated orange and yellow. This fiery-looking flower is related to verbena, and is a flower that is highly prized by bees and butterflies in the garden.
Butterfly weed: Butterfly weed is a North American herbaceous flower that grows wild in prairies and meadows. Butterflyweed produces large clusters of bright orange flowers. They are popular with butterflies, making this plant a good match for pollinator gardens.
Orange Flowers That Bloom in Autumn and Winter
Many orange flowers bloom in spring and summer. But there are also several varieties of orange flowers that can help brighten up your autumn and winter flower arrangements too. Orange blossoms on winter-blooming plants can often be found on succulents or tropical plants, like orchids.
Aloe vera: Many people keep aloe vera plants indoors as houseplants. As a result, they rarely see these medicinal succulents bloom. Aloe vera plants kept outdoors in tropical climates will produce tall orange blossoms.
Christmas cactus: Even though Christmas cactus is called a cactus, this succulent does best in cooler climates. To produce blooms, the Christmas cactus has to be placed in a sunny location indoors.
Cymbidium orchids: Cymbidium orchids are also known as boat orchids and come in several colors, including orange. These orchids originate from the Himalayan mountains. They can tolerate much cooler temperatures than tropical hothouse orchids.
Pansies: Pansies are a popular annual grown in winter and early spring. These flowers are one of the few that can tolerate cold temperatures and even frost. It is not uncommon to see pansies in landscaping borders peeking up through light drifts of snow in late winter.
20 Types of Orange Flowers to Decorate Your Yard
1. Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium)
Chrysanthemums, also known as chrysanths or mums, are one of the most popular orange flowers used in decorating during the fall season. There are thousands of varieties of this edible flower, which was first grown in Chinese imperial gardens. In Western civilization, chrysanthemums are also popular funeral flowers.
2. Siberian Wallflower (Erysimum cheiranthus)
Siberian wallflower is easy to grow, but it does need cold stratification to germinate this meadow wildflower from seed. Wallflowers are hardy perennial flowers that are rich in nectar. They are an important food source for pollinators like butterflies and bees.
3. Rose (Rosa alba)
Roses are one of the oldest cultivated flowers. These perennials come in several orange shades as well as other colors. Roses are edible garden flowers that can also be used to create perfumes, potpourri, and cosmetics like soap.
4. Chinese Lanterns (Physalis alkekengi)
Chinese lanterns are plants that are members of the nightshade family. These plants are known for the papery orange sheaths that develop over the plant’s ripening fruits in summer and resemble Chinese lanterns.
The berries, seed pods, and leaves of Chinese lanterns are highly toxic. Contact with pets and small children should be avoided.
5. Tulip (Tulipa gesneriana)
Tulips are one of the most common cut flowers in the world. But these colorful blooms originally hailed from central Asia. Most of the world’s cultivated tulips are grown by the Dutch, who have taken this flower on as their national symbol.
6. Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
Many people may think of white flowers when they think about daisies, but gerbera daisies come in many colors that include orange. Daisies are a smart option for pollinator gardens, and these versatile wildflowers grow in most parts of the world.
7. Iris (Iris germanica)
Irises are named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow, and these blossoms come in every color except for red. Irises are generally divided into three major categories: bearded, aril, and beardless.
These flowers make a beautiful addition to landscaping borders. But these perennials can be invasive over time. So they should be planted in contained areas
8. Oriental Lily (Lilium orientalis)
Oriental lilies are late-blooming flowers that don’t have long-lasting blooms. But they add plenty of color and fragrance to the cut flower garden. Unlike other types of Asiatic lilies, which tend to bloom in June and July, Oriental lilies bloom in August.
9. Ranunculus (Ranunculus asiaticus)
Ranunculus is a well-known cutting flower for its billowing petals and its long, slender stem. The structure of these flowers makes them useful in vases and flower arrangements.
Ranunculus is a particularly popular flower for weddings and bridal arrangements. That is because they come in a variety of colors and have a formal appearance.
10. Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus ‘Cosmic Orange’)
Cosmos are a practical flower choice for hot weather gardens. These blooms can thrive with a lack of water and poor soil. So they are great for novice gardeners who tend to accidentally neglect their gardens.
The rich soils can cause these plants to develop a lot of foliage that obscures the flowers on the plant. So, it’s better to grow these plants in poor soil.
11. Alstroemeria (Alstroemeria aurea)
Alstroemeria is also known as the Peruvian lily. This orange flower is a popular choice for flower arrangements since it keeps well after being cut.
Peruvian lilies are perennials that come back each spring. They are a good investment for gardeners who don’t want to hand-plant annuals every spring.
12. California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
The California poppy is the state flower of California, and swathes of these bright orange blooms can be found along the highways of the state.
California poppies are annuals that self-sow. In addition, their seed pods are also easy for gardeners to collect if they want to hand-germinate the plants for the next growing season.
13. Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)
Zinnias are bright summer flowers that are closely related to daisies and sunflowers. Zinnias are a popular garden flower because of how prolific they are. If these flowers are adequately watered, they’ll put out blooms all spring and summer long.
14. Dahlia (Dahlia pinnata)
Dahlias are the national flower of Mexico, and these bright flowers come in many colors. Dahlias have edible tubers and come in thousands of different cultivars.
In the language of flowers, dahlias are used to symbolize commitment and everlasting romantic union. They are a popular addition in wedding bouquets.
15. Fritillaria (Fritillaria meleagris)
Fritillaria is also known as guinea hen flower, and these flowers are an exotic addition to the backyard garden.
The fritillaria bulbs don’t have the protective sheaths that other fall-planted bulbs do. So they don’t tolerate being out of the ground for long. It’s important to plant fresh fritillaria bulbs as soon as possible. That way, they aren’t susceptible to rot or drying out.
16. Helenium (Helenium autumnale)
Helenium is also known as sneezeweed. This summer-blooming flower is a bright choice to act as a tall backdrop for other flowers in landscaping borders. Even though these orange flowers are called sneezeweed, don’t let the name fool you. Helenium is named sneezeweed for its historic inclusion in a snuff designed to induce sneezing. It isn’t known for causing allergies.
17. Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)
Red hot pokers are tall perennial flowers that are noted for their large plumes of red, orange, and yellow blossoms. Red hot pokers are red at their top and graduate down into bright orange and then yellow at the base of each bloom.
Even though these plants can tolerate dry summer periods, they need frequent watering to be prolific bloomers in the garden.
18. Begonia (Begonia rex)
Begonias are a flowering plant, but they’re closely related to fruiting plants like melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins. These flowers are known for their supple texture and their compact growing habit which makes them a popular potted plant for indoor gardens.
Deadheading begonias helps them maintain a compact habit. It can also encourage the plant to put out more blooms throughout the growing season.
19. Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)
Carnations are an ancient cut flower that goes back to ancient Greece, where they were a common temple decoration. The scientific name of carnation, Dianthus, translates to “flower of the gods.”
Carnations should be deadheaded and fertilized to maximize their output of blooms. These flowers can also be used on top of salads as an edible garnish.
20. Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
The bird of paradise is a flowering tropical plant native to South Africa. The bird of paradise is also known as the crane flower for its unique bloom shape resembling an exotic bird.
The bird of paradise flower blooms over fall and winter, and the watering of the plant should also be reduced during this period. The plant should be fed heavily in the spring and summer to ensure blooms later in the year.
Orange Flowers FAQ
The longest-living orange flowers are peonies. Peonies are herbaceous perennials that come in different colors, including orange. Peonies are used to symbolize true love and are often included in flower arrangements to predict a happy marriage. Peony blossoms come in every color but blue, and can reach a size of up to ten inches across.
The tallest orange flowers in the world are orange hollyhocks and orange sunflowers. Both of these species can reach heights of up to eight feet.
Orange flowers symbolize fervor and exhilaration, as well as warmth and happiness. Orange flowers feature prominently in Halloween decor as well as fall decorations. Orange chrysanthemums are a particularly popular
The rarest orange flower in the world is the South African wildflower Gasteranthus extinctus. This flower was only sighted again in recent years after there being no reported sightings of the flower by botanists or naturalists since 1985.
Orange Flowers Conclusion
Orange flowers come in a wide range of different shades and growing requirements. Whether you want a potted orange flower that can survive indoors or you’re looking for prolific orange blooms to line your landscaping borders, there’s a species of orange flower to suit about anyone.
