If you want to make your garden stand out, look beyond flowers. Plants with red foliage offer vibrant and eye-catching color all season long. They add a dramatic punch to borders, containers, and landscapes, creating stunning contrast with green leaves. This guide will help you choose and care for the best red-leaved plants for your space.
Red foliage comes in many shades, from deep burgundy to bright crimson. These plants can act as focal points or complementary accents. You can use them to create a warm, inviting feel or a bold, modern statement. Let’s look at how to incorporate these beauties into your garden design.
Plants With Red Foliage – Vibrant and Eye-Catching
This category includes trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals. The red color is often due to pigments called anthocyanins. These pigments can be influenced by sun exposure and the plants genetics. Here are some top choices for every part of your garden.
Shrubs and Trees for Lasting Structure
Shrubs and trees provide a long-term backbone for your garden. Their red foliage creates a strong visual impact year after year.
- Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum): Many varieties like ‘Bloodgood’ or ‘Crimson Queen’ have finely cut, deep red leaves. They prefer partial shade and well-drained soil.
- Purple Smoke Bush (Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’): Offers rounded, deep burgundy leaves. In summer, it gets wispy pink flowers that look like smoke. It loves full sun.
- Red-Tip Photinia (Photinia x fraseri): Known for its brilliant red new growth in spring. It’s often used for hedges and needs regular pruning to encourage the colorful new leaves.
- Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’): A large tree with smooth, coppery-purple leaves. It’s a stunning specimen tree for big landscapes.
Perennials for Reliable Color
Perennials come back each year, offering dependable color. They are perfect for filling in garden beds.
- Coral Bells (Heuchera): A superstar for foliage. Varieties like ‘Palace Purple’ or ‘Fire Alarm’ have ruffled leaves in shades of red, purple, and amber. They do well in partial shade.
- Red-Leaf Mukdenia (Mukdenia rossii ‘Crimson Fans’): Its green leaves turn a brilliant crimson as the season progresses. It likes cool, moist soil in part shade.
- Sedum ‘Xenox’: This succulent has blue-green leaves with deep purple-red tips. It’s drought-tolerant and loves full sun, producing pink flowers in late summer.
Annuals for Instant Impact
Annuals live for one season but provide intense, non-stop color. They are ideal for pots and seasonal gaps.
- Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides): Available in countless patterns. Look for varieties like ‘Redhead’ or ‘Wizard Scarlet’ for solid, fiery red leaves. They thrive in shade and containers.
- Alternanthera ‘Party Time’: A low-growing plant with hot pink and red foliage. It’s excellent for edging or as a spash of color in mixed plantings.
- Perilla (Shiso): Often used in cooking, this plant has deep purple-burgundy, ruffled leaves. It can self-seed readily, so you might get volunteers next year.
Designing With Red Foliage
Using red leaves effectively is key. Here are simple design principles to follow.
Creating Contrast and Harmony
Red foliage shines when placed next to complementary colors. The color wheel is your friend here.
- Pair with Greens: The classic combo. Bright reds against dark greens make both colors pop. Try a red Japanese maple over a hosta bed.
- Use with Silver and Blue: Cool tones like blue fescue or dusty miller make reds appear richer and more vibrant.
- Add Warm Accents: Combine with orange or yellow flowers for a hot, fiery border. Black-eyed Susans or marigolds work great.
- Don’t Forget Texture: Mix fine leaves (like some maples) with broad leaves (like red cannas) to add depth.
Placement and Focal Points
A single red plant can serve as a focal point. Place it where you want to draw the eye—like at the end of a path or in the center of an island bed. Group several red plants together for a bold mass of color. This works well with shrubs like photinia for a hedge.
Care Tips for Healthy Red Foliage
To keep your plants leaves vibrant, they need the right conditions. Red-leaved plants often need good light to develop their best color.
- Sunlight: Most red plants need at least 4-6 hours of direct sun to maintain intense color. In too much shade, they may fade to green or a washed-out bronze. Check the specific needs for your plant though, as some like coral bells prefer shade.
- Soil: Well-drained soil is crucial. Soggy roots can cause leaf drop and poor color. Amending clay soil with compost improves drainage and fertility.
- Watering: Water deeply but less frequently to encourage strong roots. Mulch around the base to retain moisture and keep soil temperature even.
- Fertilizing: Use a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in spring. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers, which can promote green growth at the expense of red pigment.
- Pruning: For shrubs like photinia, prune in late winter or early spring to encourage a flush of new red growth. Regularly remove any green shoots that appear on grafted red plants.
Common Problems and Solutions
Even tough plants can have issues. Here’s how to troubleshoot common problems with red foliage plants.
- Fading Color: This is usually due to insufficient sunlight. If possible, transplant the shrub to a sunnier location. If its in a pot, simply move the container.
- Green Reversion: Some plants send out shoots with green leaves. Cut these off at there base as soon as you see them to maintain the plant’s red character.
- Leaf Scorch: Red leaves can sometimes scorch in intense, afternoon sun. If browning occurs, provide light afternoon shade or ensure the plant is adequately watered during heatwaves.
FAQ About Red Foliage Plants
Do red-leaf plants need special fertilizer?
Not special, but balanced. A slow-release 10-10-10 fertilizer is usually fine. Avoid high nitrogen blends, as mentioned, which favor green growth.
Can I grow red foliage plants in pots?
Absolutely! Many, like coleus, Japanese maple (dwarf varieties), and heuchera, excel in containers. Ensure the pot has drainage holes and use a quality potting mix.
Why did my red plant turn green?
The two main reasons are not enough sun or a reversion to its original genetics. First, assess its sunlight. If it gets plenty of sun, its likely a revertant shoot that needs pruning out.
What are some red foliage plants for full shade?
Some coral bells (Heuchera), red-leafed begonias, and certain coleus varieties do very well in full shade. Their color might be slightly less intense than in sun, but they’ll still provide great interest.
Are there edible plants with red leaves?
Yes! Red varieties of lettuce, Swiss chard (‘Rhubarb Chard’), perilla, and some basils have beautiful red or purple leaves you can eat.
Adding plants with red foliage is a surefire way to boost your gardens visual appeal. With so many options, from towering trees to small annuals, theres a perfect red plant for every gardener. Start with one or two and see how they change the dynamics of your space. You might find yourself wanting more of that vibrant, eye-catching color.