Red is the most powerful color. If you put it near your front door, you will quickly tire of it. A red hedge of roses or poinsettias looks good when you are moving, whether down a path or down a road. But I don’t think you enjoy a mass of red outside your kitchen window where you will have to look at it whenever you are eating breakfast or washing dishes. I just don’t think you will enjoy being a captive audience to red.

Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus drummondii)

‘Darcy Bussell’ rose

Melaleuca elliptica

camellia close-up

firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis)

flamboyant tree (Delonix regia), photo by Alicia Kee

miniature Anthurium (actually these are spathes, which are modified leaves)

Red Double Knockout Rose

poinsettias on Camarillo Springs Road (actually, these are bracts, which are modified leaves, not flowers)

poppy anemone or kalanit (Anemone coronaria)