Orange BOLD & SPICY
Orange is a real touch-paper colour because it makes blues and purples look more dynamic. Sumptuous, soft-orange tulip ‘Orange Emperor’ flowers in March and April; each flower has a flash of pistachio-green, so it’s well worth planting in a pot. Lily-flowered ‘Ballerina’ is a brighter, flamed terracotta, and it’s excellent with purple tulip ‘Negrita’. For a dark corner, Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’ has wonderful fiery orange bracts and dusky olive foliage. This has a rambling habit and shoots pop up every foot or so. In sunnier positions, coral-tinted peonies provide a warm glow and ‘Coral Charm’ is one of the best. The soft-blue flowers of geranium ‘Philippe Vapelle’ open at the same time. Try weaving the long-f lowering geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ through a warm-tinted grass such as Carex testacea, or interplant with slate-blue amsonias. Plenty of hot, spicy oranges follow, and helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ provides a dazzling mix of orange and yellow flowers that are real bee pleasers. It also repeat flowers. In the second half of summer there are lots of orange-toned dahlias such as ‘David Howard’. The pumpkin-orange, fullypetalled blooms are flattered by khaki foliage. Add insect-friendly sunny annuals such as Calendula officinalis ‘Indian Prince’ and tall African marigold Tagetes linnaeus with nasturtium ‘Alaska’, plus a dash of blue cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) to bring your cocktail of colour to life.