Coral Flowers: The Trending Color Your Garden Needs Now
People who work in interior design, graphic design, fashion or homewares, are always tracking color trends. They find clues in unexpected places, from top travel destinations and movie sets, to food, art, books, social media and even gardens!
One of the most respected authorities for color trends is the Pantone Color Institute. Pantone’s color matching system has long been the global standard for both the print and the textile industries. Each year, the company identifies a set of trending colors – ten for spring and ten for fall. From these they also select a “color of the year.”
This Year’s Color of the Year
For 2019, Pantone’s color of the year is “living coral.” It’s a warm, pink-orange that’s brighter than peach, but softer than carrot. Think salmon and you’ll be very close. Pantone describes it as “sociable and spirited…vibrant, yet mellow…an animated, life-affirming shade of orange, with golden undertones that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.”
Most gardeners don’t pay much attention to color trends, but we can all can use a creative nudge now and then. This year’s color of the year is the most garden-friendly choice in a long time. It’s a lovely hue on its own and can inspire all sorts of satisfying combinations.
Tulip Apricot Impression
Dahlias That Play Into the Coral Theme
If you’re looking for flowers with coral-colored blossoms, dahlias offer lots of fabulous choices. In the world of wedding flowers, coral has been coming on strong for several years now. Brides are leaving pale pink behind in favor of flowers with warmer, bolder hues.
Dahlia Labyrinth – Available Again in 2020
Some of the most popular dahlias for weddings are dinnerplates. The flowers have the same lushness as peonies, with a slightly more contemporary look. Floral designers are especially fond of dinnerplate dahlia varieties with frilly petals such as Belle of Barmera, Fairway Spur and Penhill Watermelon.
Dahlia Great Silence
Decorative dahlias offer an even wider range of color combinations and flower styles, with varieties such as Great Silence, Karma Corona and Felida Solar Flare. For containers and borders, Gallery Pablo is a winner.
New for 2019: Flirty Fleurs Sorbetto Collection
Last summer, gardener and floral designer Alicia Schwede developed two new dahlia collections for us to offer in 2019. Both the Flirty Fleurs Sorbetto Collection and the Flirty Fleurs Ravenna Collection have a coral theme. Gardeners may be more tuned into color trends than we thought!
This hibiscus flower shows how easily coral can blend with hot pink, yellow, gold, orange and even red.
Other Coral-Colored Flowers
There are many annuals, perennials and bulbs that bloom in this beautiful color. Here are some plants — and suggested varieties — that have coral flowers:
ANNUALS
- Snapdragons: Madam Butterfly Bronze with White or Potomac Orange (Johnny’s)
- Zinnias: Oklahoma Salmon, Dreamland Coral and Benary’s Giant Salmon Rose (Johnny’s)
- Diascia: Coral Belle, Coral Canyon
- Impatiens: Infinity Salmon, Accent Salmon, Tumbler Salmon
- Coleus: Henna, Wizard Coral Sunrise, Copper Coral
- Sweet Peas: Valerie Harrod
PERENNIALS
- Dianthus: Coral Reef, Zing Salmon, Supra Salmon
- Roses: Coral Knock Out rose, Abraham Darby, Christopher Marlowe
- Peony: Coral Charm
- Poppy: Princess Victoria Louise, Helen Elizabeth,
BULBS
- Calla: Natural Bouquet
- Tulips: Apricot Impression, Jimmy, Charming Beauty
- Daffodils: Pink Pride, Delnashaugh
- Hyacinth: Gypsy Queen
Other plants that have varieties with coral-colored flowers include: gladiolus, cannas, hibiscus, gerberas, begonias, calibrachoa and petunias.
This bold planting at the Montreal Botanical Garden shows the power of pairing warm with warm.
Color Partners for Coral Flowers
Not every color harmonizes with coral, so you’ll want to give some thought to creating good partnerships. This warm, tropical hue looks great with flowers that have a similar warmth, such as burgundy, red, pink, ivory, yellow, gold and orange. Or, for an even bolder combination, pair coral flowers with periwinkle or violet-blue.
A lovely coral-colored canna with teal blue foliage.
Foliage gives you another opportunity to play up the beauty of coral-colored flowers. Teal blue is coral’s complementary color, so plants with blue-green foliage such as lavender, juniper and eucalyptus are always good companions. The same goes for grey-blues such as lamb’s ears and dusty miller. Olive green foliage also looks great with warm, orangey-pinks.
Hyacinth Gypsy Queen
If coral is not a color that you normally gravitate to, this is the year to stretch your boundaries! If you’re already a fan of this lovely hue, this is the year to indulge yourself! To learn more about making the most of this trending color, check out these related articles: How to Use Pink in Your Flower Garden and How to Use Orange in Your Flower Garden.
Don’t forget the beautiful peonies in coral. They’re gorgeous in my garden!
Hi Mary – Peony Coral Charm is already in the list. I also have it in my garden and love it! If you have other coral-colored peonies to recommend, please leave their names here in the comments and I will add them. Thanks!
Love the coral color. It brightens up the yard against the green grass and bushes. I really liked the coral canna and hibiscus. Hope I can get some this summer.
Hi Georgia – I am pretty sure that canna is the variety ‘Intrigue’. I grew it years ago and it has the same lovely teal foliage and salmon flowers. The hibiscus is a plant I purchased last summer from a local nursery. Sorry to say I don’t have the name!
[…] This beautiful gorgeous flower arrangement. […]
[…] You don’t need to wait for a special occasion to fill your home with flowers. are perfect for every day, not just special occasions. There are plenty of beautiful flowers that come in this beautiful color that will brighten any day. Create beautiful table arrangements or bouquets will with Big Fun or Coral Knock Out roses, Gerbera daisies, dahlias, Apricot Impression tulips, Coral Charm peonies, Valerie Harrod sweet peas, Madam Butterfly Bronze snapdragons and Dreamland Coral zinnias to name a few. If you have a green thumb, you can even plant a Living Coral inspired garden! […]
I have long been into flowers! I am a Bexar County Master Gardener in the San Antonio area of TX.
I am a wedding planner – and flowers are my favorite part of the design process.
I am currently re-decorating a bedroom with a coral floral color theme,
Would i be able to purchase from you a high quality image of the top dahlia and dahlia labyrinth so I could print and frame these?
I would also love to get a silk arrangement made like flirty flours sorbet to – but I bet that would be hard to do??
I live in the Hill Country of TX and dahlias are hard to grow here.
Thanks for any help with my decorating project!
Hi Maureen – I’ll respond to you directly.
Is there a low-growing landscape rose in a coral color? Not too pink? Thanks!
Hi Rachel – there is a Knock-Out rose in coral and also a Drift rose called coral. Both are considered “landscape roses”. I don’t have experience with either one, but they are quite widely available. There’s another one called “Rose At Last” that is a very orangey-coral, but it grows 30-36″ and that may be too tall for your needs.
I would like to order coral charm peony..Bartzella peony..
Hi – Unfortunately we were unable to offer the peony Bartzella this year and at this point in the season we are sold out of Coral Charm. You may want to check locally to see if you can find them. Or order from us next year in late winter or early spring.
I have a small ranch house it is a dark gray trimmed in white
I am having some lanscaping done I painted the front door a coral color. the one side of the house will have dwarf pink hydranges the other side will have a garden I painted my lacey iron bench coral I want to use in the garden instead of mulch i will be using a black and white fine stone what color flowers should I use in the garden i was thinking purple, pink blue what are your suggestions
Thank you
Lil
Your color scheme sounds lovely. We have articles about using color in the garden right on our website and each of them includes specific plant suggestions. Here is an example: How to Use Pink in Your Flower Garden. To find the rest, click on the LEARN tab on top navigation and scroll down to the section entitled GARDEN BASICS. Then choose DESIGN. I also recommend investing in one or more books about using color in the garden so you can see which combinations appeals to you. Here are a few suggestions: Color for Adventurous Gardeners by Christopher Lloyd, Colour in Your Garden by Penelope Hobhouse and 365 Days of Color in Your Garden by Nick Bailey.