Family Onagraceae.
Originating from S. USA.
- Clouds of intense pink-red blooms appear all summer and autumn.
- Perennial dark-green leaves with red-flushed new growth make a compact clump.
- Easy to grow in full sun and free-draining soil.
Gaudi Red in Your Garden
A bonfire of smouldering red-tipped foliage is crowned by ember-like blooms appearing in profusion for months. The intensity of the whole plant’s dark, hot colours makes a unique impact in sun-baked planting schemes. Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Gaudi Red’ forms a compact, yet delicate mound. Its slender stems have a grass-like effect, elevating a soft swaying mass of profuse, yet delicate blooms.
Hardy in southern and coastal UK gardens, it should be given a mulch of straw or grown in a pot in central or northern areas. Reaching 50cm high and 50cm wide in 2–5 years, it brings unique long-lasting colour to Suffolk’s mixed borders. This intense red summer perennial adds soft-textured mounds of colour to Norfolk’s seaside gardens, thriving in coastal conditions.
All parts of the plant contribute to its outstanding colours. From its lower dark-green foliage to its burgundy-flushed stems and buds, the whole clump appears to glow with intensity. Its dainty, richly coloured flowers are borne continually for months, providing East Anglia’s pollinators with a never-ending feast.
Growing Tips for Your Gaura, or Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Gaudi Red’
- Soil and Sun: Plant in well-drained, poor soil; full sun is key.
- Planting: Set in spring or autumn; summer planting requires extra attention to watering. Plunge for 20 minutes to drench the root ball before planting. Do not add compost or improvers to soil.
- Watering: Moderate; tolerates drought once rooted, water sparingly once established.
- Pruning: Cut back dead foliage in late winter.
An important drought-tolerant perennial for waterwise gardeners, it is an important addition to wildlife-friendly planting schemes. Few intense red summer perennials match the continual flowering and rich colours of Gaura’s, now called Oenothera. Given poor free-draining soil and hot sun, planted out or in pots, it is easy and rewarding to grow.
Planting Ideas for Gaudi Red
Rejoice in red. Re-charge and restore yourself in the energizing intensity of this hot colour. Set your ‘Gaudi Red’ free, plant it in swathes around taller growing crimson, scarlet, and burgundy blooms and foliage. Grevillea williamsonii, Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset’ and ‘Mrs Stanley’, Albizia ‘Evey’s Pride’, and Abutilon ‘Nabob’ burn over its smouldering mounds.
Create a lava-like flow of searing colour. Add Armeria ‘Ballerina Red’, Cordyline ‘Festival Burgundy’, Lampranthus ‘Tresco Brilliant’, Berberis ‘Orange Ice’ and ‘Coral’, Carpobrotus edulis, and Echium russicum for a riot of lower-growing heat. Let them smoulder below brightly coloured species, Cordyline ‘Torbay Dazzler’, Yucca rostrata, Nolina nelsonii, and Yucca linearifolia.
