Avens 'Totally Tangerine'
Geum 'Totally Tangerine' · Rosaceae
Soft tangerine-orange flowers on tall, branching stems from May to August, above a low clump of fuzzy leaves. It is sterile, so it flowers for months.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to early August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around avens 'Totally Tangerine'
The planner designed this bed around avens 'Totally Tangerine' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why avens 'Totally Tangerine' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Avens 'Totally Tangerine' × 3, orange
- 2 Winter heath × 5, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 13, blue
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Blanket flower 'Burgundy' × 3, red
- 7 Crown imperial × 3, yellow
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, dense clusters, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only orange.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over blanket flower 'Burgundy' (24 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft) and crown imperial (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 13 weeks. From mid May to early August.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The back corners are held by Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' and crown imperial, the tallest plants on the plan. The front edge is finished with silver sage, leadwort and winter heath.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where avens 'Totally Tangerine' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A gentle orange that mixes far more easily than hot orange: lovely with blue catmint, purple salvia and alliums. The flowers hover well above the leaves, so it can sit near the front.
- Orange for the early-summer border
- A see-through layer over low plants
- Cut flowers
What to plant with avens 'Totally Tangerine'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Salvia 'May Night': purple against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for seven weeks; spires rising out of its mound.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for 13 weeks, from mid May; spires rising out of its mound.
- Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation': purple against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks.
Questions about avens 'Totally Tangerine'
Does avens 'Totally Tangerine' need sun or shade?
Avens 'Totally Tangerine' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does avens 'Totally Tangerine' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does avens 'Totally Tangerine' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to early August. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Mid May to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early May to early August |
| Zone 7 | Early May to early August |
| Zone 8 | Late April to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should avens 'Totally Tangerine' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many avens 'Totally Tangerine' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like avens 'Totally Tangerine'?
Avens 'Totally Tangerine' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Tickseed 'Sunray': the same job in a bed; 10 in shorter, flowers early June to late August.
- Gloriosa daisy: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to mid September.
- Butterfly weed: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6 in shorter, flowers late June to early August.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after avens 'Totally Tangerine'?
Avens 'Totally Tangerine' is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Hosta 'Guacamole': from early August to late August, 24 in tall.
What does avens 'Totally Tangerine' look like in winter?
Avens 'Totally Tangerine' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Geum
- Avens 'Lady Stratheden' Geum 'Lady Stratheden'
- Avens 'Mai Tai' Geum 'Mai Tai'
- Avens 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw'
- Prairie smoke Geum triflorum
- Water avens Geum rivale
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Mid May to early August; open bowls; orange
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Rosaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.