Here's a photo of what I bought. Maybe this will help everyone know the roadside plant I'm referring to.

Thanks again,
:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: hel. microcephalus

Could it be a member of the bidens family? Did you check the Ct. Botanical Society website pictures?

Here is a link that might be useful: Wildflower Pictures

Dee when I look at your link I only see a zoom window. Does everyone else see the plant?

Sue

Garden in the Woods has 'What's in Bloom' page for August.

Here is a link that might be useful: What is in Bloom NEWFS August

I couldn't see the photo either. But I find all those heli- plants very hard to differentiate. Helianthus, heliopsis, etc. And when you wade into cultivars and hybrids--yipes. How tall is yours? The Jerusalem artichokes are in full bloom around here. They are very tall, and native, despite the common name.

No photo, and there's nothing daisy-like in full bloom along the roadsides around here, so I can't even guess.

Can't resist a challenge, so I googled perennial yellow microcephalus and up popped Bluestone. Hope this link works!

Here is a link that might be useful: HELIANTHUS Microcephalus at Bluestone

Hi guys!

Sorry about the link. I tried to link to the bigger picture, but I guess I should have stuck to the main page. Yes, DTD, that's what I have.

Sue, that's a great website. Thanks for the link. Drippy and Ginny, I'm confused now, lol. First I googled Jerusalem artichoke and thought that was what I was seeing. Then I looked up bidens and *that* looks like it too!

My plant is over five feet tall, and that is with being cut back at least twice. Ginny, I get mixed up with all the heli-plants too - that's why I posted, lol! DTD, too bad you don't have whatever it is that is blooming in your neck of the woods - it's quite a pretty flower. Now if I could only figure out what it is!

Thanks guys!
:)
Dee

So, was the daisy-like thing growing by the road our native perennial sunflower (a Helianthus)? I see those (the perennial sunflower) in roadside ditches and fields, and by ponds. They have multiple stems and flowers, are lankier and thinner-stemmed than Helianthus annua (the annual sunflower), and smaller flowers that still look like sunflowers.

One more guess. It wasn't Gloriosa daisy?

At Daves,
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/117383/

Here is a link that might be useful: Gloriosa Daisy (Native)

The reason I included the Daves link is the photos there show ones that don't have the mahogany coloring in the center. They look more like the perennial version Black eyed Susan flower.

Hi again Sue! No, I don't think what I'm seeing is a gloriosa daisy - although I was oohing and aahing over that Dave's page. I'm actually growing a few of these this year, and I think they're one of my new favorites!

:)
Dee

Dee, you'll just have to take your camera for a little ride, because now we're all just too curious. Let us know if you need help posting a photo.

You had me curious about the roadside plant, so I googled searched: 'helianthus connecticut'
Some nice info is available along with interesting photos ...maybe have a look and see if you find your roadside one?
I just came across a nice group of Tall or Green-Headed Coneflowers...Rudbekia laciniata...must have been 6-8feet tall!

Does it look like this

No, that's not it, fgirl21, but that is a beauty. I did the same google search, franeli, and its kind of overwhelming! I'm hoping to be able to take a walk on Friday, and I'll bring along my camera. There's soooooo many flowers that seem to look like my mystery plant that now I'm wondering if I'll ever ID it, lol!

Thanks again!
:)
Dee

Here is one of the perennial sunflowers that grow in New England. Helianthus simulans (the "muck" sunflower) grows around swamps and in roadside depressions where the soil is wet (and mucky).

Here is a link that might be useful: Native roadside sunflower

LOL Dee - I don't think that I planted that at all.
I DID let my daughter toss some sunflower seeds early in the season (knowing full well that the squirrels would get them)...so this is either a survivor or a volunteer weed. I'm betting on the second!

Well, I kept forgetting to bring my camera with me, and this morning as I was passing by all these plantings of this flower, I was kicking myself (not easy to do while driving, lol!)

So, I took a walk down the street to take some pictures of the clump there. And then I spent an hour uploading them to Webshots. Phew! Not only did they change their entire site, but they gave my album a STUPID name (My Public Shoebox??!!), which ticked me off on principle, lol, and then I spent a half hour trying to rename/edit/delete the darn album. Finally gave up and just re-uploaded into another album (but I still can't delete the shoebox!)

Anyway, here are two photos of my helianthus microcephalus, and two of the roadside plant. The funny thing is, after getting a close-up look at the roadside plant, I think I like my helianthus better after all, lol!

The roadside plants always seemed (at least in passing by them in the car) so much bigger, brighter, and deeper yellow. Really eye-catching. My hel. seemed pale, tiny, and quite frankly, kind of dull. But when I saw the roadside plant close-up, I just didn't like it as much as my helianthus. I guess the difference is in overall impact versus individual bloom. I still would prefer the larger blooms, but I guess there are so many variations on this plant that I could find one to fit all criteria.

Anyway, enough babbling. Here are the photos. Maybe someone can put a positive ID on the roadside one.

Thanks for all the input here!
:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: roadside vs. helianthus

Okay, I think I might be talking to myself here at this point (but that's okay - definitely not the first time, lol!) but I had to add this:

This afternoon, I was wandering through my pot ghetto, and I spotted a yellow bloom, kind of fallen over. I bent down to pick it up, and what was it but a helianthus! I checked the tag, and it was a helianthus dowellianus that I had gotten from Young's last fall at the swap. I had completely forgotten I had it.

This dowellianus is closer to the roadside plant than my microcephalus is. Guess I should find a spot for it. I just thought it was a funny coincidence that a couple days after posting this thread I found this plant in my garden!

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: hel. dowellianus

Dee, why don't you get a good wildflower book like Peterson's Guide? Then you can take more accurate info, such as shape and size of leaves, whether they are opposite or alternate, toothed or smooth, etc etc. That is the only real way to ID a plant. Especially in a group such as the heli-plants which are so similar in flower.

> I just thought it was a funny coincidence that a couple days after posting this thread I found this plant in my garden!

Funny, and happy coincidence too, Dee. And, no, you're not talking to yourself, at least not this time.

I have something similar in my garden, and I don't know how it got there. I should take a picture and post it. At first I thought it was a Rudbeckia that somehow found it's way in from another area, but it doesn't have the brown center my others have.

I should have said to check out the Connecticut Botanical Society web site, sorry, thought you would see it:

http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/helianthusgiga.html

If that's not it, the name-that-plant forum has some incredibly knowledgeable ID people on it. I have posted there a few times and gotten an accurate quick response.

Thanks, everyone, for responding and for your help. It's not that important that I definitely identify this plant. I honestly thought it was one of those things that would be immediately recognizable, that this thread would get maybe two definite replies, and I'd have an answer.

It wasn't until people started posting links that I realized that there are quite a few similar plants out there, and that this could be any number of things, and that I'd have to do some more involved studying to identify.

But since I have two helianthuses (helianthi??) already, and especially since I've got a new-found liking of my microcephalus since posting this thread, the ID is not as important. I wouldn't have room for yet another 10 foot helianthus, lol, so I'll keep what I have... for now!

Thanks again for all your help!
:)
Dee

Dee: I looked at the link in the second post a lot of times and to me, it looks like Achillea (Yarrow)???? Which is not the same as the roadside/in the garden pics????

I got a Helianthus at the spring swap and it is a monster!

Martie

Martie, I just tried that link above, and it didn't even work for me this time. Below is a picture of what I have, which is what the second link above is.

By the way... I think the helinathus you got at the swap was from me, lol!! I had three of the plants. They're huge, so I dug up two of them, and split them into a total of six plants, and brought them to the swap. Wouldn't that be funny if your helianthus is from my garden?!

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: hel. microcephalus