Yellow or orange flowering perennials add a stunning sizzle to the landscape and are instant highlights to any garden or patio!
Looking for something to plant in those hot spots in your yard?
- The Science Behind Yellow & Orange Color
- Why Yellow and Orange Perennial Plants:
- Top-Rated Yellow Perennial Flowers
- Top-Rated Yellow Perennials
- Top-Rated Orange Perennial Flowers
- Designing a Garden with Warm-Tone Perennials
- Flowering Perennial Care
The color of carotenes in many fruits and veggies, and no fall display would be the same without these colors showing up once the chlorophyll retreats in the cold. Yellow or orange flowering or foliage plants add a stunning sizzle and ensure visual highlights to any garden or patio! The opposite of purple and blue on the color wheel, and it melds beautifully with the green of most plants.
The Science Behind Yellow & Orange Color
The dominant wavelength of light in the human eye, yellow and orange are frequent colors found in nature. The Lascaux cave in France has a painting of a yellow horse, 17,000 years old, because Yellow is so easily available in nature, so it’s no wonder that ochre pigment was one of the first colors used in art.
Yellow and orange absorb the sun's light energy and protect plants from photodamage, and embody natural light and warmth.
Why Yellow and Orange Perennial Plants:
- Yellow is the color of the sun, warmth & illumination
- Happiness, youthful color, full of hope and positivity
- Orange represents refreshment, fruitiness, joyfulness, and optimism
- Enthusiasm, creativity, success, encouragement, change, determination, health
- Warm tones blend with everything!
- Color of the sun, of the autumn, and all things cozy
Top-Rated Yellow Perennials
The color of sunshine and joy, yellow flowers add instant cheer and bright color to the garden! Here are some of our favorite Yellow and Orange flowering Perennials!
Coreopsis
Sunrise and Moonbeam, Jethro Tull, and Zagreb, sunny Coreopsis are heat and sun-tolerant plants that are positively butterfly favorites! Low water usage, neat and tidy mounds, and blooms for bees and bouquets alike. Anywhere in the sun seems to glow with a Tickseed plant! Hardy natives and native cultivars, Coreopsis thrive on neglect!
Iris, Bearded Iris, Siberian Iris & Japanese Iris
So many to choose from, the Iris family embraces the color yellow! Almost every type has at least a touch! Others go completely buttery to brilliant yellow in color! With long foliage, unique two-layer blooms of falls and flags, Iris captivates the senses with fragrance, long stems for bouquets, nectar for pollinators, and an easygoing nature! Check out Sunfisher or Honey Fruit Cocktail for buttery blooms!
Goldenrod
It’s right there in the name, so you know Goldenrod embodies the color yellow! Gilded little blooms on long, arching sprays are wonderful full-sun, late-season-blooming plants that feed beneficial insects galore and are an airy floral arrangement filler! Tall, waving blooms resemble fireworks on both the native and the hardy ornamental cultivars, drawing you in as they sparkle in the sun. Great xeric plants that won’t take much water or fuss, Goldenrod got a bad rap for allergies - but it is really Ragweed to blame! My favorite is Fireworks Goldenrod!
Black-Eyed Susan
Accented with their warm brown, raised centers, Black-Eyed Susans are perennial mini sunflowers that thrive in a wide range of climates and conditions! Their gilded petals shine and act like prime pollinator landing pads! Easy to grow and return year after year, they are living sunshine! Check out Little Suzy or Dreamii for some great examples!
Daylilies
Sun-worshiping Daylilies might only last a day, but they keep popping out new buds all summer long! With long cascading foliage and cheerful open trumpets, they are fantastic edging and border plants for the heat, sun, and lazy gardener. Try a Happy Returns, Buttered Popcorn, or Stella de Oro to light up your garden borders.
Honorable Mention
Go big with yellow foliage plants, both entire and variegated green and yellow-leafed perennials like Lemon Supreme Coral Bells and Champagne Coral Bells, or yellow variegated Color Guard Yucca, Lil Miss Sunshine® Bluebeard or Sunshine Blue® Bluebeard II, and Golden Variegated Sweet Flag Grass!
Top-Rated Orange Perennial Flowers
Warm, juicy hues that instantly make you think of sunsets and citrus, orange can range from almost peachy to red. The color of summer - Glow up a hanging basket, brighten an edge of a flowerbed, or install a vibrant mass planting.
Coneflower
Soaking up the heat and sun with their spiky, raised centers, Coneflowers are stout perennials that take orange to new heights and enhance flower bouquets! Try a Sombrero® Adobe Orange or Hot Coral Coneflower, or the radiant Julia Coneflower.
Daylilies again
Just like yellow, the Daylily has the corner market in vibrant orange hues! Check out Rainbow Rhythm® Orange Smoothie, Alabama Jubliee, or a ruffled South Seas!
Hyssop (Agastache)
While many Hyssops are known for their purple blooms, there’s an entire range of juicy orange, fine-textured, and highly aromatic versions too! Fantastic Hummingbird and butterfly plants, plus many with medicinal and culinary uses, the tropical colored Kudos™ Mandarin Hyssop and POQUITO™ Orange Hyssop will add an extra pop of color to your landscape without any of the extra fuss!
Canna Lily
Tropical bold foliage and dramatic blooms that look like a cross between an Iris and a Hibiscus, the heat-loving Canna Lily can be an annual or perennial summer bulb! Try a Tropicanna® Gold Canna, or the dark red/orange-leafed Tropicanna® Canna.
Coral Bells
Not everything has to be about the flowers; Coral Bells have upstaged their own blooms by providing dramatic, colored foliage! Loving more shade than sun, these gorgeous foliage plants include the delectable Caramel Coral Bells, Peach Crisp Coral Bells, and dramatic Zipper Coral Bells with stunning multi-orange hues!
Honorable Mentions
You can’t forget the unique Orange New Zealand Sedge Grass, or Toffee Twist Sedge Grass. Or the showy Butterfly Weed Plant and Hermes Tall Bearded Iris.
Designing a Garden with Warm-Tone Perennials
From shade gardens to full-sun backyard landscapes, you can utilize yellow and/or orange flowering perennials in an endless array of layouts!
Add plants with burgundy or chartreuse foliage to deepen or brighten the effect. Add reds to complete your exotic sunset garden. Soften these colors with silver, gray, or white. Or, contrast with blue or purple flowering plants.
The tans and browns from Ornamental grasses just set things off beautifully, and as always, green is the natural complementary color for either of these hues! Separate orange and yellow blooms with intermittent splashes of red, pink, and magenta to create a hot-toned flower bed.
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Juiced Up Butterfly Garden
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Sun in the Shade
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Rock Garden For Sun
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Moist Soil Rain Garden
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Sunshine Garden Part Shade
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Mellow Yellow Garden
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Xeric Sunset Garden
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Gilded Pollinator Garden
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Warm Tones Cut Flower Garden
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Orange and Yellow Foliage Garden
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Golden Hot Growing Zone Garden
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Sunbeam Cold Growing Zone Garden
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Flowering Perennial Care
Many perennials, especially native perennials, are so easy to care for! First, always make sure to read the care instructions found on the Nature Hills Product Pages. This will let you know how much sun, water, and what type of soil a plant needs to thrive. Then find your growing zone here to get started!
Perennials do best in well-drained, enriched soils and need regular fertility. Water new plants regularly until they are established during their first year. During the hottest months of the year, you’ll want to take extra care to make sure your perennials are getting enough water.
One of the best things you can do for your flower gardens is to add a 3 to 4-inch layer of arborist mulch chips around the plants. This helps conserve water and protects the roots from the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.
Most perennials are herbaceous perennials, meaning they will die back to the ground and should be pruned in late fall when they die back. A few exceptions prefer to be pruned in early spring. All appreciate some deadheading right after their flowers bloom for a cleaner effect and often to encourage a rebloom later in the growing season! You’ll find each plant's pruning needs on each plant description page.
Easy Warmth & Brilliant Color With Yellow & Orange Plants!
Yellow flowering perennials can represent the return of spring, while orange can harken to the start of summer and autumn! Combine both and you have a delightfully exotic combination! Brighten, excite, and invigorate your garden today!
Browse the huge selection of yellow and orange perennial flowers for sale at Nature Hills Nursery, and reserve your plants today!
Happy Planting!
