are helenium perennials

Perennial Helenium: How to Plant and Care for (Part 1)

• Origin history. The genus Helenium includes annual, biennial and perennial plants, the latter are most popular. Among...
• Helenium Autumnale. It is characterized by a surface sparse root system. The shoots of the plant are oriented mainly...
• Helenium Flowers. The plant blooms from the second half of July to...

Full Answer

Is Helenium a native plant?

As a native plant in U.S. and southern Canada, helenium grows in moist, low-lying meadows or at the edges of damp woodlands. Horticulturists have taken the genus far beyond the simple yellow daisy-like flower of the native type, expanding the varieties to include every conceivable shade of gold, orange, red, and brown.

What is the best Helenium for a small garden?

Of the cultivars listed In Allan Armitage’s “Herbaceous Perennial Plants” (Third Edition), ‘Crimson Beauty’, ‘Marti Gras’, and ‘Wyndley’ are perhaps best suited for smaller garden spaces, in his opinion. They are some of the shortest and sturdiest of the Helenium cultivars.

Is Helenium a daisy?

The Helenium is a member of the Asteraceae family, which includes many similar-looking daisy-like flowers such as coneflowers, cosmos, blanket flowers, and sunflowers. You may have seen stands of helenium growing in the moist areas it loves in zones 3–8.

What does Helenium look like?

The showy petals surround a spherical brown cone covered with golden pollen that attracts butterflies. Helenium look tremendous paired with almost anything, but especially with grasses, and look stunning planted in mass. Well suited for cottage gardens, prairie plantings or naturalistic areas. Helenium are great for wildlife.

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Is Helenium a hardy perennial?

Bringing warm colour to borders from mid-summer into autumn, these sun-loving perennials are tough, hardy and easy to grow. They combine particularly well with grasses and other late-flowering perennials in prairie-style plantings.

How do you winterize Helenium?

The time to winterize it is in late fall. When winterizing perennials, keep in mind that the root system is the most vulnerable to cold damage. Mulch heavily by mounding a 6-8 inch layer of shredded bark, compost, leaves, straw or other organic material over the crown of each plant.

Should Helenium be cut back in the fall?

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) Sneezeweed usually does not finish blooming until mid-fall, and by that time it is often covered with powdery mildew. 10 Once the flowers are spent, cut back the plant by half to promote healthy new foliage, making sure to remove any diseased leaves.

Will Helenium spread?

Planted in early spring, helenium plants grow quickly to a mature size of two to five feet tall and spread to 24 inches wide.

Are heleniums drought tolerant?

Helenium is nearly-drought tolerant and use to be harvested, dried and made into a powder to induce sneezing, if you're into that kind of thing. Abundant, multi-flowering helenium is hardy to Zone 3 and nearly drought-tolerant.

Should perennials be cut back for winter?

Most perennials turn ugly as the temperatures drop and any plant that is diseased, infested, or otherwise in poor condition should certainly be cut back and disposed of rather than leaving them to over-winter. However, some perennials simply don't fare well if they are pruned too late in the season.

Do slugs eat Heleniums?

My favourite is Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' and I am trying to spread this around many of my borders. The only trouble is it appears to be delicious to slugs and snails and I have now stopped planting small young plants.

Can you divide Heleniums?

To divide heleniums use two forks back to back to part established clumps, using the material on the outside because it's the most vigorous plant material. You can divide down to a single rosette if you need to. Heleniums are robust growers and will make a substantial plant fairly quickly - even from one rosette.

Is Helenium an evergreen?

The Helenium bigelovii is also known as Helen'S Flower. This Asteraceae has got a maximum height of approximatly 70 centimetres. The Helenium bigelovii is not evergreen.

What's the difference between rudbeckia and Helenium?

Rudbeckia have similiar shaped cones to the Echinacea, sometimes more elongated, but the cones are soft to the touch. Rudbeckias come in yellows and oranges, touching on brown. Heleniums have a much rounder, bun shaped brown or yellow nose with a lovely felty feel.

How high does Helenium grow?

Newly-planted perennials usually flower the first year, but will take at least one full growing season to mature. In areas that get plenty of summer rainfall, heleniums may grow up to 4 feet tall and need to be staked. If your plants regularly grow taller than you'd like, pinch back the new growth in late spring.

When can I move Heleniums?

Heleniums start to grow new roots in late February / early March in Cheshire UK and this is a good time to move or plant large plants. This is also the time to divide but unless your soil is warm we would recommend potting up divisions and only planting them out when they have a good root system.

How tall does Helenium grow?

Featuring daisy-like flowers in a wide array of hot colors, from light yellow to dark red, Helenium can grow up to 3-5 ft. tall (90-150 cm) with a spread of 1-2 ft (30-60 cm).

What is the color of Helenium petals?

Helenium 'Potter's Wheel' produces eye-catching flowers, 2 in. wide (5 cm), with deep crimson-brown petals, each adorned with a thin golden-yellow edge. The petals are held flat, around a chocolate brown cone, which fades to yellow as the flower matures.

How long does Helenium last?

Grows up to 36-40 in. tall (90 - 100 cm).

What does Helenium look like?

Helenium look tremendous paired with almost anything, but especially with grasses, and look stunning planted in mass. Well suited for cottage gardens, prairie plantings or naturalistic areas. Helenium make very attractive cut flowers.

What is the name of the flower that has a large, bright yellow center?

Remarkably similar to award-winning 'Sahin's Early Flowerer', one of the top favorite Heleniums , 'Luc' produces even larger and brighter flowers. The brilliantly colored daisylike flowers feature long petals surrounding a prominent chocolate brown center disk that is covered with golden pollen and attracts butterflies. Opening orange-red, the petals fade progressively to orange and yellow as they mature. Longer lasting than 'Sahin's Early Flowerer', they bloom earlier and do not require support.

What is the flower that is covered with golden pollen?

Tall, Helenium 'Flammenrad' ('Flaming Wheel') produces vibrantly colored daisylike flowers with wide spoon-shaped petals surrounding a prominent chocolate brown center disk that is covered with golden pollen and attracts butterflies. Opening orange-red, the petals fade progressively to orange and yellow as they mature.

What is the name of the flower that has golden rings on the base of the petals?

Helenium 'Königstiger' (Sneezeweed) A 1964 selection by Karl Foerster, Helenium 'Königstiger' ( King's Tiger in English) features rich brick-red daisylike flowers with golden yellow rings at the base of each petal and at their tips.

What are some plants similar to Helenium?

Plants Similar to Helenium. At first glance, helenium flowers and blanket flowers ( Gaillardia grandiflora) seem to be almost identical. Both plants feature daisy-like flowers in bright red and gold hues. However, a key difference between the two sun-lovers is the amount of moisture required for thriving plants.

What is the common name for helenium?

She has years of experience in caring for flowers and plants. Allergy sufferers need not worry about planting the sneezeweed, as the common name for helenium derives from a long-lost use of the ground plant as a snuff ingredient. After inhaling, the resulting sneeze was said to drive evil spirits from the body.

How do you tell if helenium is a coneflower?

Helenium flowers look similar to coneflowers ( Echinacea spp.) in that petals face outward from a central cone in a ray shape, or may droop downward. You can distinguish helenium from coneflowers by its late summer into early fall bloom time; in contrast to the early summer blooms of coneflower.

What is the Latin name for Helenium Autumnale?

Featured Video. The full Latin name of Helenium autumnale is a reference to Helen of Troy, although the plants are native to the Americas, ...

Why is sneezeweed called helenium?

Allergy sufferers need not worry about planting the sneezeweed, as the common name for helenium derives from a long-lost use of the ground plant as a snuff ingredient. After inhaling, the resulting sneeze was said to drive evil spirits from the body.

How much sun does a Helenium need?

Helenium flowers will get leggy if they don’t receive at least six hours of sun each day, but they will accept some afternoon shade, especially if the planting area is on the dry side.

How to grow heleniums in spring?

Fertilizer. Heleniums aren’t heavy feeders, and one application of a balanced flower fertilizer in the spring is enough in fertile soils. Excessive fertilizer causes lanky growth, but pinching heleniums back in the spring encourages branching. After blooming, cut the flower stalks down to the foliage.

What is Helenium Autumnale?

Standing tall in a meadow or garden bed, Helenium autumnale is a must-have for native plant enthusiasts. Joyfully arching toward the sun, flowers feature scalloped golden petals around a button-like center. Tall stems are covered in dark green lanceolate leaves.

What is a good plant for a container garden?

Great choice for container plantings. Standing tall in a meadow or garden bed, Helenium autumnale is a must-have for native plant enthusiasts. Joyfully arching toward the sun, flowers feature scalloped golden petals arou... Standing tall in a meadow or garden bed, Helenium autumnale is a must-have for native plant enthusiasts.

What flowers attract butterflies?

Showy native flowers that bring in the butterflies. Helenium, aka 'Sneeze weed', is a native flowering perennial that produces late-season blooms that butterflies rely on. Gorgeous, two-toned petals unfurl in shades of yellow, orange, rust and mahogany, revealing a strong and sturdy center cone.

How tall does Helenium grow?

It is an upright clumping perennial wildflower that grows 3 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide. Some of the compact cultivars top out at around 2 feet. An adaptable plant, it will grow in any site that has sun or part sun and wet to moist soils. Hardy in USDA zones 3 – 9, it grows in the wild along stream banks and in wet meadows or other wetland areas.

What is Helenium good for?

Helenium is good for naturalizing and generally looks best planted as a grouping or as a mass planting. It pairs well with other perennials and grasses including asters, Boltonia, Joe Pye Weed ( Eupatorium ), Liatris, Monarda, late blooming salvias, goldenrod ( Solidago ), tall sedum, switch grass ( Panicum virgatum) or big bluestem ( Andropogon ). As a general rule, it looks best planted with other “hot” colors but it also looks good planted near blue or purple-flowering plants. Try it in:

Where does sneezeweed grow?

H. hoopesii – This sneezeweed species is native to the western states of the U.S., where it is commonly referred to as Mountain Helenium, orange sneezeweed, or owl’s claws. This long-blooming 28” to 30” tall species produces large, 3” yellow flowers with orange centers. It grows from a taproot, so propagation from seeds is the best approach. Most Helenium hybrids contain some genes from H. hoopesii.

How to propagate Helenium?

Helenium may also be propagated by seed. If starting seeds indoors, sow them in spring about 8 to 10 weeks before planting them outdoors. Just barely cover them with soil and keep them moist until they sprout. Note: Seeds from cultivars will not come true to the “parent.” If that’s a concern, then stick with either divisions or buy fresh plants. On the other hand, if you like to experiment, the seeds from cultivars may prove to be very interesting.

Where is the purple sneezeweed native to?

H. flexuosum – This eastern sneezeweed species, commonly called purple-headed sneezeweed, is native throughout the entire eastern and mid-western parts of the U.S . The 1.5” flowers on this 1’ to 3’ plant have drooping yellow petals. It is distinguished from other Helenium species by its prominent purplish-brown center disks.

How big does a sage bush get?

It is an upright clumping perennial wildflower that grows 3 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide. Some of the compact cultivars top out at around 2 feet. An adaptable plant, it will grow in any site that has sun or part sun and wet to moist soils.

What flowers attract insects?

Informal prairie or meadow settings. Combined with Echinacea, asters, and other da isy-like flowers that like similar growing conditions, it will attract a broad range of beneficial insects to the garden.

How tall is Helenium Autumnale?

It is characterized by a surface sparse root system. The shoots of the plant are oriented mainly vertically, the height of the varieties reaches 90-150 cm (35-60 ft) (there are also compact varieties with a height of about 50 cm – 20 inch), the diameter of the bush does not exceed 30-60 cm (12-24 inch).

What is the name of the perennial plant that is perennial?

Origin history. The genus Helenium includes annual, biennial and perennial plants, the latter are most popular. Among them, the most popular are Helenium autumnale and Helenium hoopesii, which differs from the first in drought resistance, an earlier flowering period (June-July, for 4 weeks), long narrow tongue flowers — and a flat, ...

Where did Helenium Autumnale originate?

Origin history; Helenium Autumnale; Helenium Flowers; The Right Place and the Perfect Partners; Decorating the Bottom Part; Features of Inflorescences; The birthplace of helenium is North and Central America, but it has long won the hearts of European designers, gardeners and just plant lovers. In Europe, this flower is called “sneezeweed”.

What does an emerging anther look like?

The emerging anthers adorn the cone with either a scattering of yellow specks or a golden ring, which undoubtedly gives the inflorescences an elegant and bright appearance. Since flowering occurs later, it does not make sense to talk about reducing the height of the plant after it (about cutting).

Is Helenium Autumnale a perennial?

Helenium autumnale is a vegetative juvenile, as the plant does not have a wintering perennial rhizome.

Does Helenium flower ascending or deflecting?

The inflorescences of many varieties of helenium tend to deflect the lingual petals downwards closer to flowering — but there are also those that initially bloom with slightly deflected (“Flammenrad”) or, conversely, slightly ascending (“Feuersiegel”).

When does the tongue plant bloom?

The plant blooms from the second half of July to August-September. During this period, the plant pleases its owners with baskets of stunningly cheerful shades of tongue flowers from light yellow to rich red, bright or slightly muted, with strokes, edging, etc.The cone formed by tubular flowers is prominent and quite large, colored mainly in brown or chocolate shades, but there are varieties with yellow (‘Sommersonne’) or green in dissolution (‘Rubinzwerg’) cone.

What is helenium in the garden?

Helenium, Helenium autumnale. A hybrid helenium blooming in a garden in summer. The genus Helenium in the daisy family (Asteraceae) includes more than 40 species of annuals and perennials from the Americas. The types most commonly used as garden plants are hybrids created with H. autumnale as a primary parent.

When do Heleniums bloom?

The exact time varies by cultivar, with some blooming as early as June, but most flowering in late summer to autumn (sometimes to first frost).

What is the shape of the rays in the orange helenium?

The flowers open from a dome-shaped bud (L) with short ray florets surrounding the central disk (LC) with the disk flowers opening from the bottom up (RC) and each wedge-shaped ray flower having three lobes at the end (R). Orange helenium combines with other perennials in a sunny garden.

How wide are helenium flowers?

The 1-2 inch wide flowers have the typical composite or daisy pattern, with ray florets surrounding the central disk flowers. In most heleniums, the 11-21 ray flowers are relatively short and wedge-shaped with notched ends forming three lobes at the tip. They may be held in a flat plane or droop downwards.

How tall do sage plants grow?

These erect, clump-forming herbaceous perennials grow 2-5 feet tall from a crown of resting shoots with shallow, fibrous roots. The alternate, medium green lanceolate to elliptic-oblong leaves to 6 inches long have sparsely toothed to almost entire margins. The base of the leaves often clasp the stems.

What is the name of the plant with golden yellow flowers?

This late-blooming cultivar received the Royal Horticulture Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 2001. ‘Goldrausch’ (“gold rush”) – another Foerster cultivar with golden yellow flowers marked with brown and a green-brown disk on tall plants (4-5 feet).

What color are ray flowers?

The ray flowers range in color from pale or bright yellow to gold, warm orange, coppery brown and deep red, and sometimes with two or more colors blended together for a washed or stippled effect, or striped or with bands of color. Consistent deadheading promotes more flowers; large groups of plants can be sheared.

Distribution and habitat

Morphology

Cultivation

Management

Habitat

Uses

Varieties

• For such a seemingly simple and underused perennial, the number of varieties is surprising. Variations in flower form, height, and color allow a gardener to devote an entire plot to growing helenium, if he wishes. Here are a few of the most interesting selections for your garden:

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