Vibrant flowers and shrubs in hues of gold, orange and red for a hot-coloured border to wow throughout the summer and early autumn List Curated by Thomas McBride From research data collected and collated at the National Botanic Garden of Wales NB: Butterflies and Moths are not studied at the NBGW so any data on nectar plants beneficial for them is taken from Butterfly Conservation Photo (CC) Jonathan Buckley Creating a Hot Border Hot Borders are a great way to create an eye-catching section in your garden over the summer and into the autumn. Typically, they consist of mostly perennials with a few annuals and shrubs or, sometimes, climbers towards the back if the border backs onto a wall or hedge. This list seeks to provide an overview of some of the most vibrant gold, orange and red flowers commonly grown in gardens that are beneficial for our pollinating insects. Included in this list are also a few purple-leaved cultivars which can add to the colour even when they are not flowering. It is a good idea to repeat-plant in a hot border with clumps of specific species repeating several times to create a coherent scheme. Choosing Plants In amongst repeating clumps of perennials such as Hemerocallis or Crocosmia, why not try adding in a few taller plants to create focal points. Tiger lilies, Giant yellow knapweed or Mexican torchflowers can add a pop of the unusual within a patterned planting scheme. Climbers such as nasturtiums or Campsis can work well in a border that backs onto a wall or larger shrubs such as Cotinus or Leucadendron may work better if the back of the border is less well-defined. Map Maps depict the native area of the plant (in green) Guide to using these pages: They also show areas the plant is naturalised (in purple) Latin Binomial All maps shown Name are derived from ‘Plants of the Common World Online’; English courtesy of Kew Name Gardens Flowering Period Photograph (this is when it is good of the plant for pollinators!) in flower Plant Family Insect groups known to Growing habit favour the and mature size nectar of this of the plant plant Useful knowledge or warnings about the plant RHS AGM cultivars of this species (or a related species occasionally) i Key to these Pages Warnings Additional information on these garden plants This plant would The flowers only be suitable for and/or leaves meadow-style have a Pleasant Plant tissue is highly planting scent toxic if ingested The plant has edible parts that are Sap may cause irritation Plant is often used in commonly eaten or (Wash hands after touching traditional Herbal Remedies used in cooking or avoid touching) ii Temperature RHS Hardiness Scale Some of the plants listed in our Top 200 are not fully H1a - Above 15ºC hardy in all or some parts of the United Kingdom. H1b - Minimum 10ºC Plants without a thermometer symbol are fully hardy in the severest UK Winter; equating to H5 or hardier. H1c - Minimum 5ºC Plants with a coloured thermometer symbol are hardy to varying degrees as follows: H2 - Minimum 1ºC H3 - Minimum -5ºC H4 - Minimum -10ºC H5 - Minimum -15ºC Almost Hardy Half-Hardy Not Frost Hardy Not Hardy (H4) (H3) (H2) (H1) iii Pollinators Our data on pollinators has been collected from studies spanning over a decade. Pollinator symbols appear when plants are proven to be good nectar (a) (b) plants for certain insects. It should be noted that all bee and hoverfly data is ours but lepidoptera data is taken from Butterfly Conservation. Our data spans a wide range of different insect species. For simplicity, these species have been condensed into six easy icons to represent them: (c) (d) a) Honeybees c) Bumblebees e) Moths b) Hoverflies d) Butterflies f) Solitary Bees (Includes Moths) (e) (f) iv N. America & Achillea millefolium Eurasia Common Yarrow ‘Red Velvet’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Lansdorferglut’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Nayuki Im 1 Alstroemeria x hybrida S. America Garden Peruvian-lily Complex group of hybrids of unknown parentage Alstroemeria genus ‘Orange Glory’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn ‘Spitfire’ ‘Red Elf’ Alstroemeriaceae Peruvian-lily Family 3ft Tuberous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Glen Bowman 2 Alstroemeria aurea Orange Peruvian-lily S. America ‘Orange King’ Summer . (Not AGM) Alstroemeriaceae Peruvian-lily Family 3ft Tuberous * This plant will not survive below -10’c night Photograph from Flickr (CC) Jon Sullivan temperatures, protect from very harsh winter3 nights Antirrhinum majus Mediterranean Common Snapdragon ‘Deep Bronze’ Early Summer - Early Autumn ‘Liberty Classic’ Plantaginaceae Plantain Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Rob Bertholf 4 Aquilegia formosa N. America Western Red Columbine - Species - Mid Spring - Midsummer Ranunculaceae Buttercup Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Peter Stevens 5 Berberis thunbergii Japanese Barberry Japan f. atropurpurea Spring . ‘Fireball’ Berberidaceae Barberry Family Medium Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Rafael V. 6 Campsis radicans Trumpet Vine N. America f. flava Summer . Bignoniaceae Trumpet Vine Family 10ft+ Climber * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) Harald Henkel 7 Carthamus tinctorius Caucasus Safflower None Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Marcus Winter 8 Centaurea macrocephala Caucasus Giant Yellow Knapweed None Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 5ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Alwyn Ladell 9 Coreopsis tinctoria N. America Dyer’s Tickseed ‘Yellow and Red’ Midsummer - Mid Autumn Asteraceae Daisy Family 3ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Natalie J 10 Cosmos sulphereus C.Mexico America Yellow Mexican Daisy ‘Brightness Red’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Tango’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 4ft Annual * This plant, if sown early, should be sown inside Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Ramesh NG during winter (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures)11 Cotinus coggygria Eurasia Smoke Bush ‘Ancot’ ‘Young Lady’ Summer . ‘Royal Purple’ Anacardiaceae Cashew Family Large Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat 12 Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora Montbretia Crocosmia aurea x Crocosmia pottsii – naturally occurring hybrid South Africa ‘Star of the East’ Summer . ‘Lucifer’ Iridaceae Iris Family 4ft Cormous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Gabrielle Ludlow 13 Dahlia coccinea C. America Red Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Happy Single series’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 3ft Tuberous Perennial * Will not survive a frost, only half-hardy, bring Photograph from Flickr (CC) Chipmunk_1 tubers indoors in winter to rest before planting14 in Spring N. America & Dasiphora fruticosa Eurasia Garden Potentilla ‘Hopleys Orange’ Early Summer - Early Autumn ‘Marian Red Robin’ Rosaceae Rose Family Medium Shrub Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Réginald Hulhoven 15 Digitalis x valinii Europe Illumination Foxglove Digitalis purpurea x Digitalis canariensis (syn. Isoplexis caneriensis) Macaronesia Digitalis canariensis Digitalis purpurea ‘Illumination’ Summer . ‘Firebird’ (Not AGM) Plantaginaceae Plantain Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Fitz Clarke 16 Eschscholzia californica N. America Californian Poppy ‘Dali’ Summer . ‘Fire Bush’ Papaveraceae Poppy Family 2ft Annual Photograph by Thomas McBride 17 Hedychium x moorei Hedychium coccineum Hedychium gardnerianum Hardy Ginger-lily Hedychium coccineum x Hedychium gardnerianum (Probable) SE Asia ‘Tara’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn Zingiberaceae Ginger Family 6ft Perennial * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) Esin Üstün 18 Helenium autumnale N. America Common Sneezeweed ‘Ring of Fire’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn ‘Butterpat’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) John Brandauer 19 Helianthemum nummularium Europe Common Rock-rose ‘Fire Dragon’ Late Spring - Midsummer ‘Henfield Brilliant’ Cistaceae Rock-rose Family Small Trailing Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Heather Alexander 20 Helianthus annuus N. America Common Sunflower ‘Claret’ ‘Waooh’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Pastiche’ Asteraceae Daisy Family * 3ft Annual * Dry Seeds edible (‘sunflower seeds’), Seeds are harvested commercially for sunflower oil. Photograph from Flickr (CC) Henry Elliss 21 Heliopsis helianthoides N. America False Sunflower ‘Benzinggold’ Midsummer - Mid Autumn ‘Light of Loddon’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 4ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Sascha Gloede 22 Hemerocallis fulva Orange Daylily East Asia ‘Cayenne’ Summer . ‘Selma Longlegs’ Asphodelaceae Asphodel Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Thomas Cizauskas 23 Hypericum androsaemum Afro-Eurasia Tutsan Hypericum x inodorum ‘Golden Beacon’ Summer . (Hybrid with H. hircinum) Hypericaceae St Johns Wort Family Small Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Inês Fonseca 24 Inula magnifica Caucasus Giant Fleabane ‘Sonnenstrahl’ Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 4ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Daderot 25 Leucadendron salignum Common Sunshine Conebush South Africa ‘Safari Sunset’ Midsummer (Hybrid with L. laureolum) - Mid Autumn Proteaceae Protea Family Small Shrub * This plant should be grown in a sheltered location (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures) Photograph from Flickr (CC) Eric Hunt 26 Ligularia dentata Leopardplant East Asia ‘Britt Marie Midsummer - Early Autumn Crawford’ Asteraceae Daisy Family 4ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Lotus Johnson 27 Lilium lancifolium Tiger