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Cottage Gardens

Helenium

15 years ago

I have my first helenium blooming. It is second or maybe third year from seed. I am surprised the flowers are only about one inch diameter. Is this normal? I started these from a packet just labeled red and gold helenium and only got one plant from the packet. The flowers are a lovely rusty red color, and quite profuse, just small. Any thoughts?

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Comments (8)

Nancy
15 years ago
The flowers on the plant I purchased last fall are about that size, but it was full of flowers & looked wonderful this summer.
christinmk z5b eastern WA
15 years ago
Yes, they are about that size. Once the plant gets big it will be covered with those little blooms and look really great. Heleniums are very reliable, and are becoming one of my favorite late summer/fall plants.
CMK
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Jay, I wish I knew why Heleniums seem under utilized, I'm a little afraid I'm going to find out why and I won't be happy, I've wondered if they are garden thugs, but they are not. Maybe their autumnal shades don't work for everyone? Lots of people seem to prefer primary colors. Or is it because the older ones tend to be tall and need staking? That's why I like the smaller compact ones that I've stumbled into. But I don't know why you can't grow them in your Zone 9 garden. I'm in Zone 9. (heleniums dont really compare to echies to me) I have to agree with you. The Echinaceas are on a different level, definitely elegant, colorful, beautiful, spectacular...and so on. The best that can be said for the Heleniums is that they are colorful. But I love their colors and their long blooming habit and the way their colors work so well with the grasses I love. They seem easy though I think they need a fair amount of water to look their best. When I say move over Echinaceas, it really means I've come to the end of my collecting mania with them and I will no longer have quite so much of my perennial bed devoted to them. it's time to move on to other things. I am going to be facing some difficulty accomplishing that though. I'd need a much larger garden to do what I really want to do, which is to have great sweeps of grasses interplanted with Echinaceas, Penstemon Sour Grapes, Agastache and Heleniums. Oh, and the Dahlias I like will stay in the background. The problem is I already have more plants that can comfortably fit. I might have to cull a few Echs which will be really painful. And I need to add more Penstemon Sour Grapes and I want to add more grasses. I'll probably have to eliminate some of the Agastaches to do that. Which will be quite painful too..
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lvtgrdn
15 years ago
Good old Helen's Flower AKA sneezeweed does not have big flowers. I have a couple that I enjoy, too. One is yellow, the other is orangish reddish and yellow.

Sue
phill173
15 years ago
I have THREE different kinds of helenium for the first time this year, although they were all labeled the same "Moerheim Beauty," and I, too, was surprised by the small size of the bloom. I had never seen one in person, just in photos, and never next to another flower for perspective. I really like it thus far, and look forward to its return next year. I had read that it gets pretty tall, and it is in the back of the border with its little mixed orange and yellow, solid yellow, and then rusty maroon flowers all blooming next to my purple coneflower. Yikes!
gldno1
15 years ago
helenium is one of those plants I have tried two different times and they died. One lived last year was destroyed completely by some kind of bug...I have decided to stop trying.

It is interesting because I see several of you from different zones have them and they are thriving.
christinmk z5b eastern WA
15 years ago
-gldno1, im surprised you cant grow them. Heleniums arnt as drought tolerant as some places say they are though, maybe yours needed more water? I know one of mine gets 'browning from the bottom up' foliage because its in a dryer condition than the others.
CMK
gldno1
15 years ago
It's true, it was in the cellar bed that is across the drive and it gets very little supplemental water.
debbieca
Original Author
15 years ago
OK, so they are supposed to be small. Thank you. The green of the foliage is my favorite green and orangy reds are my all time fav, so these are awesome in my book. I have a little vase of them on the kitchen counter and I just love it! I hope they live over winter and come again. I started them in a large pot to get them up and going well, before putting out to the garden.

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