10 Red Flowers for Big, Bold Color in Your Garden

Red flowers are a great way to draw attention

Add a variety of eye-catching red flowers to your garden, and you’ll be delighted with the gorgeous color they add to your landscape. Red flowers are a great way to draw attention to a garden. Planting all red flowers can practically stop traffic! Red flowers, especially red roses, symbolize love, but scarlet flowers can symbolize strength, family bonds, good luck, protection, and prosperity, so adding this bold hue can bring many good things to your garden beyond beauty. A bouquet of freshly cut red flowers will brighten up a kitchen table or master bedroom nightstand in a way that no other color of flower can.

Red flowers pair beautifully with orange, yellow, and white flowers. Read on to learn about some of our favorites to add to your garden. We’ve got everything you need to know to grow them and add color to your landscape.

1. Zinnia

One of the best annual cut flowers, zinnias bloom in a wide range of colors. They don’t mind hot, dry conditions and will reward you with blooms all summer long. They’re a favorite of pollinators, so they’ll attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden.

2. Shirley Poppy

This easy-to-grow annual is a surefire way to add a dose of bright red blooms to your spring garden. In the North, sow seeds of this wildflower in spring; in the South, plant them in fall.

3. Knockout Rose

Traditional roses are beautiful, but they require a lot of work. Add a big dose of color the easy way with knock-out roses. These sturdy, long-blooming roses require almost no maintenance and still make a big statement.

4. Celosia

A high-quality red cut flower, celosia also dries well, making it a favorite of crafters who like to make dried floral arrangements. If you don't mind cutting it, celosia is a great garden plant that blooms reliably all summer long.

5. Peony

Growing plants don't get much easier than peonies, which will thrive in a sunny spot for years without any real maintenance. When they're not in bloom, peonies have deep green, leathery leaves that can withstand any weather.

6. Dianthus

One of the best-smelling red flowers you can grow, many varieties of dianthus offer attractive foliage, so they look great when they're not in bloom. The annual varieties in particular are great for containers.

7. Tuberous Begonia

A regal plant well-suited to shade, tuberous begonias offer full, double red blooms rather than attractive foliage. Although they're actually perennials that grow from tubers, they're often grown as annuals.

8. Pentas

If you want to attract butterflies, pentas are the plant to add to your garden. It has stunning clusters of bright red flowers. It is an easy plant to grow as it can withstand heat, humidity and drought like a champ.

9. Dahlia

From pretty little, trailing annuals to large plants with blooms bigger than your head, dahlias can be counted on to make a unique statement in the garden.

10. Columbine

Bright color isn’t just for the sun! Add bold red blooms with columbine in early summer. These easy-to-grow perennials will bloom for weeks and attract hummingbirds.