Red Flowering Annuals
Below you will find a list of Annuals from our plant database that are red flowering. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant for your landscaping.
The annuals, also commonly referred to as bedding plants, can be grown directly in the ground, in containers for patios and decks or in hanging baskets. Annuals, with their blasts of color, are used for edging, mass of color, filling in spots between established shrubs, trees and evergreens and as groundcovers. Mixed containers are in vogue, often a blend of annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses and even tropicals to take the urn, window box or decorative planter through the spring, summer, fall until frost. Most of these annuals grow well with average soil moisture and partial or full sun, though some can take full shade, giving the home gardener more options for use in the landscape.
Many of the plants grown in the United States as bedding plant annuals are actual tropical in origin, which explains why they are harmed by late spring frosts and the killing Autumn freezing temperatures. Some of these beautiful plants come to us from areas in Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and the Mediterranean region. Frequently, plants from the wild are then selected and hybridized for larger blooms, better bloom color, longer bloom time, improved disease resistance and even better foliage displays.
Some of the bedding plants with red blooms are native plants, which are more naturally insect resistant, salt tolerant and have natural disease resistance.
The most well-known annuals with red flowers are: Begonias, Bedding Impatiens or Busy Lizzie, Calibrachoa or Trailing Petunia, Canna, Cockscomb, Cosmos, Dianthus, Flowering Tobacco, Fuchsia, Geraniums (Pelargoniums), Hibiscus or Mallows, New Guinea Impatiens, Pansy, Periwinkle or Vinca, Petunias, Pinks, Salvias or Sage, Snapdragon, Twinspur or Diascia, Verbena or Vervain and Zinnia, also known as Youth and Old Age.
Annuals that flower red are exciting in the landscape. Red's powerful, passionate color can be enjoyed throughout the season and blends well with perennials, ornamental grass, shrubs, groundcovers and evergreens and trees. Too much red can quickly overwhelm an interior room, but in the outdoor living spaces without the confined dimensions of walls and ceilings, red flowers harmonize with orange and yellow or blue, purple and white providing a striking contrast.
Red bedding plants are great at attracting butterflies and birds, particularly hummingbirds.