It's interesting to hear that they will grow from seeds. I may try some this next winter. My Zelbelstern is getting a little floppy this year. Guess that means it's time to divide it. Last year I don't remember that being a problem. I think of mine, Coppelia probably has the nicest form.
Who Grows Heleniums?
Yes! Save some of that Helenium seed for us, Susan!
Maybe the Cottage Garden Forum needs to have a big seed trade-swap. Ug, I'd bring it up, but I don't want to be in charge of it! I wouldn't get it all cleaned up by Thanksgiving, I bet.
Suzy
I am going shopping for these!!! I have a whole bed I can put these into to fill in and give color!!!! They are beauties! Is Gallardia in this family or NOT?
Asteracaeae? sure.LOL Wouldn't be the worst combination either.
I know this is a little OT. But does anyone here grow White Swan coneflowers? Mine are all floppy this year too, they were actually laying down.
I think they must be sleepy. Never had a problem with WS flopping. I have seen other coneflowers do that though.
If they are in too shady of a spot they will flop. I am always testing the boundries of who can tolerate any amount of shade.
Nice heleniums. I must head over to the Flower Factory, once again.....
argh, it IS too shady than. Thanks magnolialover.
al - do you have to deadhead Ruby Tuesday to get all those blooms? Still my favorite helenium on this thread. They need full sun as well, right?
This message was edited Sep 14, 2007 3:13 PM
This message was edited Sep 14, 2007 3:14 PM
No, I will deadhead them later to get a few more. Yes helenium would prefer full sun - maybe a little shade would be OK. How much shade are you looking for something to plant in?
It's that west facing bed that I posted before, late summer bloomers. They're all along a six foot tall privacy fence, so the shade is only in the a.m., I didn't realize I had that much shade, but apparently I do.
Here's my last one to open then, Indianersommer. Not amazingly different than some of the other red ones and a bit later.
Hey all you Helenium nuts--You might want to post these pics in PlantFiles, as I notice there is only one cultivar posted....I, too, love Heleniums, but I only discovered them this year, so only have one cultivar, and I bought it on clearance so don't know for sure what it is. Quite beautiful, though!
PF's kinda screwy again, I had to go in through plants I entered already to find them
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/b/Asteraceae/Helenium/none/cultivar/0/
but yes, enter in all you can - they'll fix the search function eventually
I did see some native(self seeded) helenium in a wetter area the other day, like this:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/heleniumautu.html
so they might be a good alternative to some of the other dryer(echinacea,blazing star,etc)prairie plants if you are planning that.
Okay after reading your thread I had to have some of these. I ordered some online and am waiting for the plant to arrive. My question is, on the web page it says these like really moist conditions. How moist is really moist? I do have a pond and everything I plant around it grows really well and I think it may be because the ground stays really moist, not sure. So I was thinking of planting it around that area. Have you in your experience noticed that it likes to stay really wet? Around this area nothing stays really wet unless you water it every day. All your pics were so beautiful though I had to try the plant. Hope it does well for me. Thanks for any help.
Leslie
Ooh, I am planning a garden in a very wet area - never came across helenium for this in my research. Will definitely have to add them to my plant list... and maybe move the ones I have out of the hot, dry area they are in!
Well Digger, you may want to check up on that but I am pretty sure that is what I read, that it likes to stay consistently moist. I thought it pretty weird for this kind of plant but maybe the web site was wrong. Hopefully someone who has them planted will come along and let us know for sure.
Leslie
Leslie, I think you and Al are right about these liking moisture. I went to the link Al provided above, and I actually have been using this site a lot lately, since I live in CT and have been researching native bog/swamp plants. I just never saw helenium on any list, and I guess I always thought of it as more a a dry-loving, sun-loving plant, like a coneflower. I'll look into it a bit more, but I think I'll give them a shot in the wet garden. And since I've been watering my own helenium every day for three weeks (thank goodness for rain today!) I will look into moving mine into a moister area.
I will compare helenium to echinacea in basic water needs, but helenium will tolerate wetness(especially winter) better than echinacea. They would probably respond to summer watering well, I wouldn't plant them in areas that have standing water a lot though.
Bigcityal.....Saw what others have indentified for me as a Helenium at Tower Gardens Botanic Gardens in MA Saturday. Probably Canary. I went out and bought an h. canary yesterday. Think I got the right cultivar? Several photos of the plant at Tower Hill are here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3954577
Have plenty of room for more. Really looked good at Tower Hill and I need a tall plant which will stand out from a distance in the fall. Any other cultivars you (or others) would suggest?
There was a , frilly looking plant over six feet tall near the Helenium (garden was arraigned by related species). It was loaded with buds but none were open. Foliage almost looked like fennel...Wispy. Think the nameplate said Mexican sunflower but I'm not sure. Any ideas what it was?
there is dogfennel of course, can't say it's known for flowers though
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54505/
your h. canary looks right
http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/95/index.htm
the tallest one I have is red/gold hybrids at 6-7'. I like that one, Chelesy and Moerheim Beauty for other tallish ones. I have a monster aster 'Harrington's Pink' opening up now at over 6' tall.
That Canary is beautiful. Does it really bloom in the fall? Here, my heleniums are pretty much done. They start blooming in mid-August and are finished by now, give or take a few lone blooms. I only have the one kind of helenium (Bright Buttons) so I have to ask - are they like daylilies or tulips, for example, where you can extend the blooming season by planting different ones that bloom at different times?
I actually do have a second one - Autumn Lollipop - which I grew from seed this year. I'm a bit underwhelmed, as the "blooms" are much smaller than I expected, but will see for next year. But those also have had their peak by now.
Sometime it's hard to gauge bloom times by catalog descriptions. One person's "fall" is another person's "late summer". To me, fall is October, or at the least the last week of September.
:)
Dee
DiggerDee . . .Photo of a Helenium (Canary apparently) below was taken last Saturday, Sept 8th at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens in Boylston MA. Believe the gardens are on the border of zone 5 & 6. Nice fall color isn't it? H. Canary I bought at a nursery Tuesday was in bloom too.
BigCity..thanks..I'll have to check out that monster aster! The more height here the better.
Very lovely photos - hart, is your helenium the same as mine? I had no idea there were so many ...
thank you for sharing. Growing those plants is impressive, but then to be organized enough to share all the pics-over the top!
:-)
Bigcityal...the whispy plant coming into bloom at Tower Hill I thought looked like fennel is Helianthus salicifolius (Willow-leaved Sunflower):
http://images.google.com/images?q=Helianthus+salicifolius&hl=en&safe=off&pwst=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Does anyone know the water requirements of Helianthus salicifolius? It looks pretty cool.
Hi rebecca30! Your Mardi Gras is beautiful.
Thanks David. I think there might be some at the arboretum I do work at - I'll check. That one might fit your needs to.
Rebecca....very nice. Where did you pick it up? I see Mardi Gras has only been out a few years. A nursey in Devon, UK has it and dozens more but I can't find American vendors which carry more than a few cultivars. Check out Helenium Red Jewel at Sampford Shrubs UK:
http://www.samshrub.co.uk/helenium/helenium.htm
It's almost fuschia. Has a blue undertone.
I would like to find seeds or plants, for many of these cultivars. Anyone know of a source?
This message was edited Sep 14, 2007 7:03 PM
Mardi Gras is very common around here. Mine flowers in June. I have saved seeds off all of mine if you are interested.
Bluestone Perennials has Mardi Gras.
David- Paul,
I bought mine at a local nursery for $9.99 1 gallon pot size. Boy it was the best purchase I did. My Mardi Gras grew to about 3-3.5 feet tall or so by summer's end. Unfortunatly due to the drought, I just cut it all back down, the seeds were long dropped by the time I got to it. I relocated it to a new perrenial bed. Here's the link to the local nursery I bought from, but you can probably do better in find it with the currenty listed garden vendors, as my local nursery's current listing of plants on the internet is less than ideal.
http://www.nelsasgardenhut.com/index.asp?pgid=18
Garden Hut
10:32pm - Actually I take that back, I do indeed have seeds that I harvested in June 2007. So yes, I do have seeds and of course the plant itself. :)
This message was edited Sep 15, 2007 10:33 PM
I got a Mardis Gras at Tagawas (Parker, CO, SE of Denver) today, 50% off because they are clearing out their perennials. They have lots more, I only needed one.
Does Mardi Gras come true from seeds? The one I bought has several nearly mature seed heads, it would be great to get some viable seed out of it too.
I would be interested in try just a few seeds. I have never grown these. Are they a hardy plant, Susan?
Teresa
I WANT SOME HELENIUM SEEDS --- ( pant, pant .. . .. . )
ha. We've got a short variety that grows as a weed along the roadside,
But I've love some seeds from anyone that has some available....
Just drop me a line through D-mail if available....
thanks SO much,
pford1854
I am just getting around to my seeds and do have a lot of helenium available, send me a dmail if interested.
I grow heleniums and you are so right about great late summer. They self sow here some too.
Thanks! The taller ones sometimes need a little support to keep from flopping. I like the ones about the height of Chelsey the best. I'll have to up date my photos this next summer. I've added a few more that bigcityal traded with me. Think I have about 10 different ones now. I like the fact that they bloom at a time my garden needs the color. Do wish they bloomed a litttle longer.
susan
Hi Susan
Was reading and writing about Helenium on another thread. Am a huge lover of Helenium. A number of people, in the fall, talked about growing the plant from seed. Helenium, in a flower bed, is also very easy to divide and, in fact, it seems to require division to maintain its vigor: every three years or more (maybe depending on the cultivar). Some cultivars actually fall apart when you dig them up. A few like 'The Bishop' and 'Wyndley', require division with a spade. It seems that Helenium may require division a bit sooner than many of the other perennials in the same flower bed. Still its easy to do and the flower display that results is very eye-catching. As people have said, Helenium likes sun and moisture.
Sunny