Northumberland Master Gardeners have been promoting “Add Red To Your Garden’ to celebrate Year of The Garden 2022. This month we are going to share some of the flowers that we have added to our gardens in honour of the occasion.
Lori Groves added a Spigelia marilandica ( Indian Pink) to her woodland garden. It grows to about 60 cm tall ( 24 inches) , blooms in June and thrives in wet, organically rich soil.
She also added Gaillardia, known as blanket flower. It is an easy to grow, short lived perennial. The plant forms a slowly spreading mound to about 50 cm (20 inches). If grown from seed, you will get flowers the second year. If purchsed from the nursery, they usually bloom the first summer. Gaillardia requires full sun and is extremely drought tollerant. Note that poor soils tend to encourage more flowering and the pollinators love them.
Red Echinacea was also added to Lori’s sunny garden. It is a vibrant perennial that puts out a profusion of fiery red blooms. It grows 60 to 70 cm (24 inches) high, survives drought quite well and is a great pollinator. 
Victor Frieberg added red pelargonium to his garden. This genus includes about 280 species, commonly called geranium, pelargoniums, or storkbills. 
These make wonderful bedding plants. They also are welcome additions to outdoor pots. Some are wonderfully fragrant, having aromas of rose, peppermint, lemon or nutmeg. Some species are said to repel mosquitos.
Judy Kaufmann included a Lilium in her garden. They are a genus of herbaceous flowering plants with large prominent flowers. Lilium prefers full sun but can tolerate part sun. They are beautifully fragrant and they attract butterflies. 
Judy also included red tuberous begonias in her pots. Tuberous begonias like good indirect or dappled light. They like well drained soil but are not drought tolerant so it is important to water them when it hasn’t rained. You can keep the plants tidy by cutting off spent flowers.
Joy Cullen included Paeonia ‘Red Charm’ (Peony) a reliable and vigorous perennial that grows to a bushy mound of glossy, dark green divided foliage. For Year of the Garden 2022 Veseys Canada is donating 25% of the sales of Red Charm to support the Year of the Garden initiave.
I planted my red bike which is mounted in a perennial bed in the front of my house with Coleus, red pelargonium and white becopa . It is in a spot which receives morning sun and is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. This combination seems to do well there. All three are resonably drought tolerant.
I also planted Mandevilla in the pots by my garage. I love this plant because as a vine, it grows up a willow structure in the pot giving me a vertical plant on each end of the garage doors. The vines need full sun in order to flower well. The mandevilla is not demanding in terms of water. It flowers till frost. You can bring the plant indoors over the winter. Keep it in a place where it will get bright, indirect light. Water when the plant is dry to the touch.
I do hope that we have inspired you to add some red to your garden!
authored by Carol Anderson