Bold and fiery, orange flowers can’t help but be noticed and command attention wherever you plant them. Although these outgoing bloomers are far from shy, they are more versatile than you might think and deserve a place in the garden in every season. Usher in spring with the dazzling glow of orange-blooming Oriental poppies. Add sizzle to the summer garden with orange zinnias and marigolds. And celebrate the warm colors of fall with container plantings of orange pansies or mums. As long as orange is used judiciously, there is no better color to add spark to a humdrum garden and bring it back to life.
Orange is such an invigorating color. It instantly brightens up a garden, adding a sense of warmth and energy. When it comes in the form of flowers on low-maintenance ground covers, the impact is even greater.
Ground covers make excellent additions to landscapes. Their spreading nature allows them to quickly fill in vacant areas while choking out weeds. Shorter than other plants ground covers fit under trees and into spots where grass struggles. And with orange blooms they bring vibrancy to overlooked zones.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the top ground cover options that bear stunning orange flowers. You’ll discover the benefits they offer, growing conditions they need, and design tips for using them effectively. Let’s add a fun pop of color to your garden with ground covers sporting cheery orange blooms!
Why Grow Orange Flowering Ground Covers
There are many great reasons to incorporate orange blooming ground covers into your landscape
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Add vivid color – Orange flowers give dull spots a bold, lively look. They create focal points and contrast beautifully with greens and blues.
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Attract pollinators – Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds flock to the bright blooms for nectar. You’ll enjoy watching the activity.
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Prevent erosion – Their spreading habit curbs soil erosion on slopes, banks, and bare patches.
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Discourage weeds – A dense mat of ground cover blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds. Less weeding for you!
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Replace grass – Let them fill in where turfgrass struggles, like areas with heavy shade or tree roots.
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Bring color to walkways – Use orange ground covers as edging plants near paths, patios, and entryways.
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Add seasonal interest – Some offer late fall color when other plants are fading.
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Complement garden colors – Orange pops against blues, purples, whites, and silver foliage.
Ideal Growing Conditions
While specific needs vary, most orange blooming ground covers thrive under these general conditions:
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Sun – At least 4-6 hours of direct sun daily. Morning light is essential.
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Soil – Well-drained, average to sandy soils. Avoid overly rich or wet soils.
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Moisture – Drought tolerant once established, but prefer weekly watering.
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pH – Neutral to slightly acidic pH around 6.5 is best. Avoid very alkaline soils.
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Hardiness – Most suit USDA zones 5-10. Select cold-hardy types for northern areas.
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Space – Give 1-4 feet diameter for ground covers to spread out horizontally.
Top Orange Flowering Ground Cover Options
Here are some of the best ground covers that produce remarkable orange blooms:
Orange Ice Plant
This succulent ground cover offers electric orange daisy blooms in spring and summer. Thrives in hot, dry conditions. Hardy in zones 5-10.
Orange Butterfly Weed
A native milkweed with fluffy orange flowers in late spring. Attracts monarch butterflies. Tolerates drought. Zones 3-10.
Orange Geum
A clump-forming perennial with fuzzy leaves and dangling orange flowers in late spring. Does well in partial shade. Zones 5-8.
Orange Stonecrop
A tough evergreen succulent with star-shaped orange flower clusters in summer. Excellent for rock gardens. Various hardy species.
Orange Carpet California Poppy
A western native annual poppy with satiny orange cup-shaped blooms from spring through summer. Self-seeds freely. Zones 5-10.
Orange Hawkweed
A mat-forming perennial that produces small reddish-orange daisy flowers from early to midsummer. Handles some foot traffic. Zones 4-8.
Orange Gazania
Clumping perennials or annuals with bright orange daisy blooms that close up at night. Require full sun. Zones 7-10.
Orange Bulbine
A clump-forming succulent with slender spikes of orange star-shaped flowers. Works well in xeriscapes. Zones 8-11.
Orange Carpet Zinnia
A low mounding annual with warm orange pom pom-like blooms from summer until frost. Excellent for borders. Zones 5-10.
Design Tips for Planting
Follow these tips to effectively incorporate orange ground covers into your landscape:
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Group for impact – Mass 3-7 plants together for bold splashes of orange.
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Use as edging – Outline beds, patios, walkways and other edges.
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Allow spreading – Give them room to self-seed and expand into bare spots.
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Mix colors – Combine orange with contrasting cool colors like blues or whites.
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Highlight focal points – Direct attention to garden art, seating areas or special plants.
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Match colors – Blend orange with yellows, reds and other warm hues.
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Ensure succession – Include early and late bloomers for color all season.
Caring for Orange Ground Covers
With a little care, orange ground covers will thrive for years:
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Water new plantings regularly until established. Mature plants are drought-tolerant.
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Weed periodically to prevent competition, especially when young.
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Cut back overgrown or leggy areas to encourage fresh growth.
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Divide dense clumps every 2-3 years to maintain vigor.
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Apply organic mulch around plants to conserve moisture and reduce weeds.
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Fertilize lightly in early spring and midsummer if needed. Avoid over-feeding.
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Monitor for pests and diseases. Address problems promptly.
With their vibrant color and easy-care nature, ground covers bearing orange flowers are sure to enliven your landscape. Choose several types to ensure weeks of glowing color in your garden. Give them room to spread out and they’ll reward you with beauty far into the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some good orange flowering ground covers for shade?
Some excellent orange blooming ground covers for shade include orange geum, orange dead nettle, and golden creeping Jenny.
What is a fast spreading orange flowering ground cover?
Orange ice plant, orange carpet California poppy, and orange butterfly weed are some fast spreading orange ground covers. They fill in quickly.
Are ground covers with orange flowers deer resistant?
Butterfly weed, gazania, orange stonecrop, and orange carpet zinnia are orange ground covers that tend to be avoided by deer. Check locally to confirm deer resistance.
Do ground covers with orange flowers attract hummingbirds?
Yes, hummingbirds are attracted to the nectar-rich tubular blooms of orange butterfly weed and orange carpet hummingbird trumpet.
What is a good edible orange flowering ground cover?
Orange nasturtium is an edible orange flowering ground cover. Both its flowers and leaves can be eaten, adding a peppery flavor.
ANNUALS WITH ORANGE FLOWERS
Superbells® Dreamsicle® calibrachoa. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Petite petunia-like flowers look stunning trailing from containers and hanging baskets. For the best display, give plants a light trim on occasion to encourage fuller growth and more abundant flowering. Learn more about growing calibrachoa.
Flamma Orange celosia. Photo by: All America Selections.
These heat-loving flowers come in a variety of eye-catching forms, ranging from feathery plumes to crested cockscombs, in vibrant shades of orange, red, yellow, and pink. One of the newest cultivars is ‘Flamma Orange,‘ an All-America Selections winner lauded for its fade-resistant fiery orange plumes and long season of bloom.
Vermillionaire® large firecracker plant. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Clusters of orange, tubular-shaped flowers with yellow tips look like tiny firecrackers, bringing an explosion of color to containers and garden beds. Irresistible to hummingbirds, cuphea requires no deadheading for continuous bloom. Learn more about growing cuphea.
Photo by: Andrew Shepetov / Shutterstock.
The daisy-like flowers of gerberas bloom in nearly every color, from soft pastels to zesty shades of orange and red. Varieties to try include Mega Revolution Orange, which features deep orange petals surrounding cream-colored centers, and ‘Patio Volcanoes,’ which has large orange and yellow bi-color blooms with black eyes. Learn more about growing Gerbera daisies.
Infinity® Orange New Guinea impatiens. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Infinity® Orange — Buy now from Proven Winners (Impatiens hawkeri)
Looking for an orange bloomer to bring vibrant, nonstop color to a shady corner? This tough, mildew-resistant impatiens is adaptable to most light conditions and features extra-large flowers that pop against dark-green foliage. Learn more about growing impatiens.
Photo by: Bruno Glatsch / Pixabay.
This no-fuss annual comes in numerous shades of orange and yellow, often with striking highlights of red, gold, or bronze. In addition to its ornamental value, marigold is a great companion plant in a vegetable garden because it helps repel unwanted pests. Learn more about growing marigold flowers.
Matrix Orange pansy. Photo by: Jana Milin / Shutterstock.
Although pansies are best known for their cheery purple or yellow flowers, you can also find pretty cultivars with orange blooms, such as Frizzle Sizzle Orange, which has ruffled pumpkin-orange flowers, or Matrix Orange, which sports extra-large bright orange blossoms. Where winters are mild, pansies planted in fall will often rebloom again in spring. Learn more about growing pansies.
Queeny Lime Orange zinnia. Photo by: All America Selections.
Put some zing into your zinnia patch by including some bright orange bloomers, like ‘Double Zahara Fire’, which sports fully double scarlet-orange blooms, or the more demure ‘Queeny Lime Orange’, a beautiful blend of salmon, orange, peach, and lime. One of the easiest annuals to start from seed, zinnias can be sown directly in the garden after the threat of frost has passed. Learn more about growing zinnias.
BIRD OF PARADISE(Strelitzia spp)
Named for its iridescent orange and blue flowers that resemble a bird in flight, this exotic tropical perennial craves heat and grows best in outdoor temperatures over 60 degrees F. But even if you live in a colder climate, you can enjoy this spectacular plant year-round by potting it up and growing it indoors over winter in a sunny room. Learn more about growing bird of paradise plants.
Arizona Apricot blanket flower. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Arizona Apricot — Buy now from Proven Winners (Gaillardia spp.)
Large apricot-orange blooms with yellow tips cover tidy mounds of dark green foliage for months on end, bringing long-lasting color to garden beds and borders. This heat- and drought-tolerant prairie native needs little care once established, and the nectar-rich flowers are magnets for butterflies and bees. Learn more about growing blanket flower.
Photo by: Proven Winners.
Butterfly weed — Buy now from Proven Winners (Asclepias tuberosa)
Bearing clusters of bright orange blossoms, this showy cousin of milkweed is a vital food source for monarchs and other butterflies and a beautiful addition to a meadow or pollinator garden. Deadhead faded flowers to encourage more blooms and to prevent the plant from reseeding if you wish to limit its spread.
Orange Zest chrysanthemum. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Available in a wide array of rich, autumnal shades like coppery orange, russet, and burgundy, the garden mum is often used as a fall annual to replace summer-blooming plants in containers and garden beds. Many varieties can also be grown as perennials if you plant them in early spring or at least 6 weeks before a killing frost in fall. Learn more about growing mums.
Color Coded™ Orange You Awesome coneflower. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Color Coded® Orange You Awesome — Buy now from Proven Winners (Echinacea hybrids)
A nice change of pace from the familiar purple coneflower, this compact cultivar features large tangerine-orange flowers enhanced by a hint of magenta near the cone. Once the flowers have finished blooming, leave the seed heads in place to attract a multitude of songbirds to your garden. Learn more about growing coneflower.
Luscious® Marmalade lantana. Photo by: Proven Winners.
Luscious® Marmalade — Buy now from Proven Winners (Lantana camara)
A beautiful blend of deep orange, yellow, and red, this heat-tolerant bloomer flowers nonstop from late spring until frost and nearly year-round in warmer climates. Usually grown as an annual in cooler climates. A nice, mounded habit makes it a perfect choice for containers, borders, and mass plantings. Learn more about growing lantana.
Photo by: Dajra / Shutterstock.