Nollie,.. I would have thought your California poppies would be flowering for you by late April at least.. they start here in mid May from a simple packet of seeds.. ..another is Arctotis… I grew the variety 'Cherry Frost' but 'Flame' is the usual one .. it's half hardy but good in pots.. might survive your winters..
I've got perennial wallflowers in pillar box red and another a bit more pinky red, they have been flowering for at least a month and just now are more flower than foliage. I live in Llandudno on the north Wales coast, we have a microclimate thanks to having sea on both sides, said to be the second mildest place in the UK. (First is in Dorset) and our soil pH is about 8.
Here is a short video clip of my Berberis darwinii flowering in April with a play list of other plants flowering in my garden in Ireland in the same month. It is grown from a self seeded plant from my parents garden that was probably spread there from a plant in a supermarket hedge line next to them about eight years ago. I thought it was a holly when I found it first. There are often smaller numbers of flowers at different times of the year but the main flowering period is starting now. The flowering quince is looking even better this year than it did in the video clip on the playlist and the neighbor across the road has one that is more mature and flowers over a much longer period from winter into early summer. I think you can get ones with different flower colours but I like the bright red one I have that is flowering outside the living room window currently.
There is also the simple pot marigold shown in this short clip of one that self seeded in our drive way in a play list of May flowers. I just noticed a couple of them that are growing around the same spot in the drive way are now just after forming flowers that are on the verge of opening but they could end up yellow or orange or a mixture of colours which I think is one of the more interesting things about growing them. You could start some indoors and plant out as well if you wanted to get them flowering earlier as I'm only starting to see the odd new one sprouting in the garden so far this year as they usually wait until it gets a bit warmer to start growing. Red valerian (centranthus ruber) are also on the verge of flowering here in the warmer parts of the garden and they self seed even more vigorously than the pot marigold.
Round here the California poppies are in flower in very stony soil on the new road around Talmond-St-Hilaire form late January onwards. Self sown now, wild and very bright.
As for my garden, there are some French marigolds which have over wintered happily in the veggie plot - planted with brassicas - and very orange. I also have some bright orange sun lovers in the rose garden. Can't remember what they are but they flower here from March to April and open up in sunshine. I'll try for a photo tomorrow.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Can't think of to many at the moment but for Crown Imperial fritillaria ( red / yellow and orange ) Wallflowers ? Some of the acers new growth has a orangey ting . I don't think the Primula candelabra would suit your climate unless you had shade with a permanent damp/wet patch . What about Cornus annys winter orange or one of the salix Britzensis that your orange for months. Maybe you could use a Lupin for late may.
Are you able to grow lantana @Nollie? When we were on holiday last year in Menorca there were lots of Orange and yellow ones in containers around the restaurants. Tho that was summer, and I'm not sure when they start flowering 🤔
Wow, thanks everyone, lots of great ideas. I had dismissed those that state flowering from June (like orange asclepias, alstroemeria Indian Summer etc.) because, although I can be up to a month ahead (in summer that is certainly the case), April/May is my cold/wet period, following early warmth in February. Still, I should get a bit of a head start over the UK, However, if anyone fancies a sunny easter break in the Catalán mountains however - forget it!!
My Californian poppies are not even germinating yet, although a few ‘weeds’ might be seed leaves, but maybe next year they will be earlier.
Thinking about it, my preference would be for perennial orange/red open-style flowers to aid early pollinators, followed by bulbs I could dot around, not much room for more shrubs in that border. So I will make a hit list from all your great suggestions. All for next year now, given the circumstances.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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I would have thought your California poppies would be flowering for you by late April at least.. they start here in mid May from a simple packet of seeds..
..another is Arctotis… I grew the variety 'Cherry Frost' but 'Flame' is the usual one .. it's half hardy but good in pots.. might survive your winters..
..mix with 'Red Chief'..
Arctotis 'Cherry Frost'...
As for my garden, there are some French marigolds which have over wintered happily in the veggie plot - planted with brassicas - and very orange. I also have some bright orange sun lovers in the rose garden. Can't remember what they are but they flower here from March to April and open up in sunshine. I'll try for a photo tomorrow.