Often used as a symbol of love and affection in a bouquet, red flowers can make anyone fall in love with their color.
They are bright and add a dramatic tone to your garden when in full bloom.
Red is an appealing color to insects, so learn to attract beneficial insects to your garden using some bright red flowers.
Red Flowers That Bloom in Spring and Summer
Spring is the season where plants liven up after a bare winter, and while there are some perennial blooming flowers, the showiest of them all usually bloom in spring and throughout summer.
- Lilies – Most lilies are known to be hues of white, pink, and red, and they bloom in the spring and summer. They’re a favorite for their large and fragrant blooms to many florists.
- Tulips – Known for their classic beauty, tulips are often seen blooming in bright red, but since their blooms don’t last very long, only about two weeks, they are appreciated and treasured more.
- Gerbera Daisies – These gorgeous big blooming flowers blossom in late spring through summer and, if you’re lucky, even well into autumn.
Red Flowers That Bloom in Autumn and Winter
Most of us accept the fact that autumn is a time of bright orange and red colors since most trees shed their leaves and the world starts to look a bit duller. But if you prepare your garden beds, you can have bright red blooms even in winter.
- Amaryllis – They are autumn blooming flowers and come in a variety of hues from white to red, and they’re relatively easy to care for as well.
- Poinsettia – Also known as Christmas flowers, they actually aren’t flowers at all, but rather red-colored leaf structures on the plant. They are winter blooming and grow on shrubs.
- Poppies – Some species of poppies will actually bloom in winter if planted in the fall, and if you take care of them, they may even bloom into spring, giving you the perfect transitioning period, so you never have a flowerless garden.
20 Types of Red Flowers
When we hear the words ‘red flowers,’ most people think of red roses, but there are a lot more species of red flowers to enjoy. In fact, there are varieties of flowers you may not have known could bloom a bright red.
Perennial Red Flowers
Perennial flowers are flowers that last at least four seasons. Some growers classify plants that survive more than two seasons as perennials, although some may last forever or as long as you take good care of them.
1. Perennial Geranium
It’s in the name, Perennial Geranium blooms each season in your garden. While you might be used to seeing these flowers in cool tones such as blues and purples, a bright red Geranium bohemicum does exist. Learn how to keep them around forever at Better Homes & Gardens.
2. Hyacinth
These spring-flowering bulbs produce dainty bundles of tiny flowers. The red ones are definitely a sought-after color of the Hyacinthus plants.
They are some of the more straightforward spring bulbs to grow that you can plant once and enjoy forever. HGTV shows you how to plant and care for them.
3. Hellebores
Hellebores, which go by its scientific name, is a self-seeding perennial that comes in almost any color, from white to black. Gardening Know How notes that this is an easy-care plant and worthwhile to keep in your garden.
4. Columbine
Aquilegia, known by its common name Columbine or Granny’s Bonnet, is an easy-going plant that blooms for 4 – 6 weeks in summer. According to Gardenia, they are perennials but only last up to 3 years.
5. Dahlia
Dahlia also goes by its scientific name and has a big round head that can vary in size and color. They’re a bit more tricky when it comes to classifying them as perennials. According to The Dahlia Expert, they can be annuals or perennials depending on the climate zone you live in.
Trees with Red Flowers
Trees with red flowers are a rare sight, but you might just find one at your local nursery if you know what to look for.
6. Hibiscus
Chances are, if you have ever been close to a tropical region or coastline, you have seen hibiscus trees bearing flowers of all the best colors, including the iconic red blooms. Mother Nature teaches you how to grow Hibiscus rosa-Sinensis in your garden and even in a container.
7. Dogwood
Dogwoods, or Cornus florida, are trees that bloom in summer with flowers of white, pink, or red. But they also turn their leaves bright red in the fall, making for a statement tree to have in your garden.
Garden Lovers Club has some great tricks for you if you’d like to grow this tree yourself.
8. Royal Poinciana tree
The Royal Poinciana is an evergreen tree that produces orange and red blooms in summer. It’s officially known as Delonix regia, but another common name for this tree is the Flame Tree.
The tree is native to Africa, and according to The Spruce, you should keep it far away from your home since it has an extensive root system.
9. Camellia
While they are more of a shrub, according to Masterclass, Camellia can grow up to 25 feet tall and average around 12 feet. The Camellia Theaceae is a rather large family of plants, and some species can even be used to make tea.
10. Bottlebrush
The Callistemon spp Tree gets its name from the very unique flowers it produces in summer. The blooms tend to look like bright red bottlebrushes.
Moon Valley Nurseries has an extensive care guide for you to follow if you’d like to have this drought-tolerant tree in your garden.
Medicinal and Edible Red Flowers
Usually, red signifies danger in the natural world. But some flowering plants bearing red blooms are actually edible. Some even have medicinal qualities to them. Who knows, you might be growing a pharmacy in your garden.
11. Coneflower
Echinacea is a perennial flower, and if you have a red variety in your garden, you can see bright red blooms in summer. This flower is said to assist your body in fighting off infections, including the common cold. Learn more at Almanac on how to grow your own coneflowers.
12. Verbena
The Verbena bonariensis is widely known for being a medicinal herb. However, these flowers actually come in a whole variety of different colored blooms, including a red-orange flower, that can make your cottage garden pop with color.
Garden Design has a troubleshooting guide if you’re struggling to grow some of these flowers on your own.
13. Prickly Pear
Prickly pears are not often grown for their flowers, but they do produce big red blooms in late spring and early summer. These flowers grow into delicious fruits once pollinated.
Although Opuntia humifusat is a cactus and easy to grow, The Spruce has a guide to give these flowers the proper care.
14. Red Sunflower
Red sunflowers are part of the Helianthus species of plants. Much like the yellow variety, they produce massive heads of flowers that later form a lot of edible seeds, which you can enjoy as is, shelled, or made into cooking oil. The red sunflower can grow almost anywhere as noted by Jardin HQ.
15. Nasturtiums
Tropaeolum, commonly known as Nasturtiums, produce edible blooms that can add a peppery taste to your summer salads. According to Gardening Know How, these flowers can also be an aphid trap companion plant if you’re growing a veggie crop.
Small Red Flowers
You might be used to large and fragrant red flowers; after all, if someone gives you a red bouquet of flowers, you don’t want to see tiny red flowers if they’re meant to signify love, but these are still some beautiful and small red flowers, to add to your garden.
16. Begonia
Begonia or Begonia benariensis has a lot of colorways for you to choose from. However, beware, as the small bright red flowers have been known to be a big headache since you have to care for them daily to keep them happy.
Garden Design shows us how to take proper care of these high-maintenance blooms and makes it easier to grow them.
17. Pentas
Better Homes & Gardens provides you with a comprehensive guide on how to care for Pentas lanceolata. They are star-shaped and form larger clusters made from small individual red flowers.
18. Yarrow
Achillea millefolium is a gardener’s best friend. The flower is pest-resistant, drought-tolerant, and attracts good bugs like butterflies, which can help pollinate your garden. Almanac shows us how to grow these red flowers from seed or cuttings.
19. Scarlet Sage
Despite having Sage in its name, Salvia coccinea is not planted as a herb but rather as a butterfly-attracting ornamental plant that produces bright red blooms on a stalk. According to Gardening Know How, this plant can be perennial if your area doesn’t get too cold.
20. Carnation
Dianthus Caryophyllus is often added to bouquets and has small red, white, or pink blooms. FTD teaches us not only how to care for and grow these flowers but the meaning behind them as well.
FAQ
Red Christmas flowers are commonly known as poinsettia. But they are, in fact, not flowers.
It’s actually the leaves of this plant that turn red, giving it a red-flowerlike appearance. They bloom in winter, when a large portion of the world celebrates Christmas, hence the name.
The tallest red flower happens to be the world’s tallest flower too. While the Titan Arum or Corpse Flower may not look red from far away, the inside of this huge flower is a deep rich crimson red.
But be warned. This flower didn’t get its name for nothing. It smells like rotting meat, as it is a carnivorous plant, meaning it feeds on insects and even small mice.
Red flowers are often associated with true love and passion. They can also convey ideas of respect, desire, and courage. In many parts of the world, red flowers can also symbolize death.
Although red flowers are usually associated with positive feelings & symbolism, they can symbolize death. Specifically, Chrysanthemums are placed on graves as a symbol of mourning and death in Europe.
The Middlemist’s Red Camellia is the rarest red flower in the world. With only two current specimens that we know of: one in New Zealand and another in England.
Conclusion
Red flowers are some of the most romantic, occasionally rare, and often stunning flower choices to add to your garden or bouquet.
The color red in flowers attracts both harmful and beneficial insects to plants, so do some research and plant red plants and flowers to your advantage.
You might find that there is a red variety for you to collect and grow yourself.
