what the perception of any color is.. usually is based on your eyes.. and how you interpret it.. check out the link ...

along with the ambient light ... meaning.. when you look at it ...

at high noon.. i suspect most of us will see what i call a burnt orange ..

at dusk .. when just as the sky turns pink.. which is one of the best times for an amateur to take pix.. imho ... most likely you will see red ..

then .. throw in.. what they are surrounded by ... if in the midst of all deep green.. the red will probably 'pop' ... but if you put it in a sea of yellow.. they will look orange ... etc.. ad nauseum ...

where are you going with this.. is red imperative??? ... is marigold imperative ...

where am i trying to go??? .. who knows.. lol .. not really .. even if suzie.. and marge tell you they are red as red can be.. that doesnt mean you will think they are red ...

happy new year early..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link .. the handbag is an interesting interpretation of marigold red ...

Donna,

I doubt that any marigold is true red, but as Ken has suggested, color perception is subjective. Burpee refers to their Scarlet Starlet as "bronze-red". Parks refer to their Zenith Red as "glorious rich red", which I think is stretching it a bit. All of the marigold "reds" have some yellow in them.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned)

As if to confirm a post above, over at Google images there is picture one has taken of "red" marigolds with a field of sunflowers in the background and in that picture they look very red.

aren't they Zinnias??

Albert,

"...over at Google images there is picture one has taken of "red" marigolds with a field of sunflowers in the background and in that picture they look very red."

Is {{gwi:26554}} the picture you are talking about?

Izhar,

"...aren't they Zinnias??"

Good question. Zinnia leaves and marigold leaves are noticeably different. Its hard to tell from that picture, but I don't see any leaves that are clearly marigold leaves, and the stems look zinnia-like. So maybe they are zinnias. The picture doesn't show obvious marigold traits.

Most of the "red" marigold pictures in that Google gallery are of the red-orange color that passes for red in marigolds. I have yet to see a marigold that had what I consider to be a true red color.

I have seen many zinnias that had true reds. But when it comes to pictures, versus the actual flowers, lighting conditions and the sensor in the digital camera or the properties of the color film come into play.

ZM

This is the same pic in the link I opened as per description by Albert.. There is variety of French Marigold known as "Red Cherry" it's blooms are double rusty orange but when fully open, it shows yellow center.. planted along with white flowers like petunia, phlox, antirrhinum etc, they do look dark red at a distance...

Zenman, 'm an avid follower of your Zinnia threads, here in Pakistan Zinnias can be grown year round but varieties are less.. for example we don't have the cactus flowered, scabious flowered and peppermint, I have some questions, will be asking in a new thread, hope you'll reply.

Izhar

When I saw the picture of the "marigolds'' with sunflowers I hesitated. Should have gone with my first instinct and not mentioned it. My bad. Sorry.

Albert,

Nothing to be sorry about. They were labeled as red marigolds, they look truly red as you said, and for all we know, they might be actual red marigolds.

ZM

Donna,
Take a look at this "Trial Garden" link of 'Zenith Extra Red'
Scroll down to almost the last one. If that is Extra Red, wonder if just plain red would actually be orange?
Click on each picture to enlarge it.
Like red Cosmic cosmos seems to be some version of orange.
Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Extra Red

Okay. I thank you all for your input. This past year, I planted Durango yellow marigolds in an annual bed on my driveway in late summer. It was glorious and looked for all the world like chrysanthemums throughout the fall. However, I forgot that I also have a backdrop of fall blooming Encore azaleas in that bed that are, you guessed it, fuschia. Definitely not a lovely combination. Mums do not do well here at all, so I was hoping that a red marigold would suffice. Based on your comments, I doubt I'll be thrilled, but I ordered a packet to try in a pot. Will let you know. Any alternative suggestions would be welcome. And yes, zinnias, might work. Hmmm.

Donna,

I've never seen a marigold in person that was fire-truck red, or cola-can red. Only brick-red and maroon, and never solid "red." There's always orange or gold trim. White marigolds aren't white either, more of a dirty cream.

For a red that isn't rusty: pelargoniums (geraniums)
petunias
nicotiana
impatiens (if you have shade)
begonias - do a search in the Begonia forum for "Dragon Wing" begonias. There are some awe-inspiring driveway photos.

I think with fuchsia involved I would pick a companion color other than red, but that's a matter of personal taste.

One more suggestion:

How could I forget salvia! Lots of species and varieties to pick from. I had S. coccinea "Lady in Red" this past summer and it was lovely.

IMO, Burpee's Scarlet Starlet is about as red as they get, and it's not really a true red when you put it up to something like a geranium or a salvia, but it does at least blend into the red color family -- more of a deep rusty red. It could all work with the right accent colors to blend things together.