There aren’t a lot of red perennials to choose from. One of the few is Maltese cross (Lychnis chalcedonica). I grew a Maltese cross many years ago. I don’t even remember what happened to it. They aren’t particularly long-lived perennials, so perhaps mine just failed to come up one year and I forgot about it.
Last summer a strange plant popped up between my raised bed pavers. I decided to let it bloom. I was shocked to discover it was a Maltese cross. A seed from my original plant must’ve finally been exposed to enough light to germinate after all these years.
The plant appeared again this spring. I have no idea how it can grow between my pavers. There’s not a lick of soil there, but it sure seems happy.
Maltese cross grows about 30 inches tall with a spread of 12 inches. The plant prefers average to moist well-drained soil (or in my case no soil at all!) in full sun to partial shade.
The scarlet-red blooms look striking next to yellow flowers like Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’ or purple flowers like Salvia ‘May Night’.