Garden Plants

Choose helenium for late flowers

By Julie Hollobone

The helenium, with its remarkable central flower boss, gives colour and form through to October

Helenium 'Baudirektor Linne'

'These perennials enjoy full sun and moist soils and can fail in dry conditions, so add plenty of organic matter at planting.'

The common name of Helenium, sneezeweed, is hardly endearing, but the daisy flowers are distinctive with a large, rounded, central boss that pushes the outer petals down to a low ruff as the flower fades. The dark centre of new blooms often lifts to yellow as the tiny disc flowers release their pollen. Frequent deadheading will prolong the flowering period.

Growing tips

These perennials enjoy full sun and moist soils and can fail in dry conditions, so add plenty of organic matter at planting. They also benefit from regular division every two or three years to maintain flowering and sturdiness. Taller forms often need staking, but you might avoid this by pinching out in late May or cutting back to 30cm (1ft) in June. The latter treatment produces a much shorter plant and can delay flowering.

Helenium autumnale

The species Helenium autumnale can be raised from seed sown in the spring or summer for flowering the following year. Helenium flower colours range from yellow to russet browns through shades of deep red-orange. The yellow flowers with yellow centres of H. autumnale appear from early September and H. ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ shows tints of russet in the yellow petals, over a long period into October. The slightly darker red-brown flowers of H. ‘Indiansommer’ fade to yellow and orange, while popular H. ‘Moerheim Beauty’ is darker still with rich-orange, ray petals and flowers from August into autumn with regular deadheading. Look out also for H. ‘Rubinzwerg’, which has reflexed, dark-red, ray petals on shorter 70-100cm (30-39in) stems.

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