Red

It's the countdown to Valentine's Day and people are getting manic about the colour red.

Traditionalists are skittering off to florists and flower markets this week to buy their sweethearts red roses for Valentines Day. This is like the Super Bowl weekend for roses. They will be wrapped up and carted to romantic places, some of them will be as vibrantly red and lively as a Ferrari Monza, others will be the colour of a miserable bruise and, refuse to open.

If people can commission paintings, then why not commission a Valentines bouquet that for a few grand days reminds you of summer in the garden.

Kimberly Francis of Westdale Florists (www.westdaleflorists.ca) in Hamilton revels in creating lush landscapes in a vase.

Imagine gerberas, ginger, anemones, tulips and kangaroo paws in ever deepening layers of red. "I love using tropical flowers, and trying to make the arrangement look like a section of the garden," she says. Tiny yellow orchids float like butterflies through the masses of red flowers, and silver dollar eucalyptus flutters at the base.

It's an arrangement that looks rich, and instantly makes your house look swank.

Red is so useful that way. It imprints on the mind. I still think about a garden I saw 12 years ago where a swath of red poppies intermixed with 'Johnson's Blue' geraniums and the whole electric scene was reflected in a pond. It was unforgettable on a May Day.

If you're making a list of red to add to the garden this summer, check out the penstemons, columbines, bee balm, the daylily 'Ed Murray' the red rose called 'Champlain'.

And other gardeners are happy to weigh in with their favorite reds.

From Belinda Murray, owner of Triffids Plants in Georgetown, "Have to say that crocosmia 'Lucifer' has been the most stunning red in the garden the last couple of years. Corms were planted three years ago and are just beginning to bulk up now. Recommended for Zones 6-9, I find that here in Georgetown (Zone 5) it winters well as long as it has good drainage. Grows about 1 meter tall in full blazing sun, unwatered!"

Yes, crocosmia is one of the best blazing reds you can stash in your garden, and truly elegant in its profile.

Plant promoter Allan Armitage from the University of Georgia trial gardens (ugatrial.hort.uga.edu) is always stalking around the world looking for smashing plants. He is carrying a torch for a sizzling red annual flower called cuphea 'Firefly'.

"They are fabulous in containers, and wonderfully heat and humidity tolerant," says Armitage, who also says they have fade proof flowers.

Cuphea is a familiar landscape plant in Florida, where it is also called cigar flower or cigarette plant. Forget the lurid image, and just think of the jolt of glowing red that cuphea would add to your garden this summer.

Janet Anderson, President of JEA Perennials (www.janetanderson.ca) of Strathroy is always ahead of the crowd with her distinct plants.

"There are rumours of a new verbascum out of Holland by the name of 'Cherry Helen' a sport of 'Helen Johnson'. I saw them in a field 2 years ago and the flowers were definitely red, especially for a verbascum."

For a glimpse of this newcomer, look at the Jackson and Perkins website (www.jacksonandperkins.com). They say the 'Cherry Helen' verbascum will bring new energy to the cottage garden.

Plunk all those red flowers in your garden and it's like carbohydrate loading, now it's time for some fibre from woody plant material.

Tom Intven, owner of Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas (www.canadale.com) loves the red fall colour of the itea, and predicts a newcomer called 'Red Majestic' corkscrew hazel will be a sensation. "This is an exciting new plant from Holland with red- burgundy leaves. It will be available in limited numbers this year, next year in bigger numbers," says Intven. He also recommends the smokebush called 'Grace' for its unique red colour, and 'Wine and Roses' weigela with leaves "so dark burgundy they are almost black."

So from red roses to 'Wine and Roses' weigela, there is every reason to see red in the garden this season.