Heleniums
Sneezeweed was so named not because the pollen causes hayfever- it is actually carried by insects - but the dried petals were used by Native Americans to stop sneezing fits. Heleniums like being in sun but with cool roots and divide best in spring as new shoots emerge. The ray florets are called petals here and the central disc florets, the cone.
Species found by the Mississippi but now widespread in the USA. 150cm tall. Flower 60mm across with reflexed petals and a yellow cone.
Discovered by Dr. John Milton Bigelow, a professor of botany at Detroit Medical College when he took part in the Pacific Railroad Survey of 1854-54 in Oregon and California. Similar to cultivar ‘The Bishop’ except rather taller and requires some support, also yellow/green cone whereas ‘The Bishop’ has brown cone.
Purple-brown cone. Widespread in eastern USA.
Mountain helenium, smooth grey-green leaves, flat flowers 75mm across bright orange-yellow. Grows to 80cm tall. In the wild it flowers from June to September in mountain meadows, Sierra Nevada (California) to SE Oregon and east to the Great Basin.
THE OFFSPRING
Rich red fading to copper 50mm across. Flowers from early August and is widely grown in Holland and Germany. Similar plants are ‘Meranti’ and ‘Vivace’.
120cm tall. Flowers from beginning of August with blooms 50mm across. Rich yellow tips and base with bright red band reflexed throughout and strongly reflexed petals in the mature flower. Leaf mid green and lower stem purple.
115cm tall. Flowers 55mm across, rich yellow some tawny wash, reverse strongly marked red-brown, leaf mid green. (very close to ‘Gartensonne’ and ‘Zimbelstern’).
Flowers in late summer, dark brown-red, reverse similar rather uneven flower 45mm across, mid green leaf (compare to ‘Moerheim’ 65mm which flowers much earlier) 125cm tall. Alan Bloom and Percy Piper at Bressingham.
Flower is 55cm across with a green cone, deep yellow-brown petals with the reverse similar. Flowers mid July and petals reflex with age. 120cm tall. There are a number of forms in circulation. Many plants sold as this have darker, coarser and bigger leaves and grow much taller. Alan Bloom and Percy Piper at Bressingham.
160cm tall. Flowers from mid-August. Flowers are 55mm across with a brown cone, petals yellow at base strongly marked orange-brown, reverse darker.
Flower is 45cm across warm copper-red, small flat flowers with a dark red brown cone, reverse even dark red. Flower fades to burnt orange. Small dark green leaf. 85cm tall. Selected and named by Alan Bloom and Percy Piper at Bressingham.
90cm tall with a big crimson red flower, reverse similar with the odd yellow line down length of petal. A big shaggy flower 75mm across which reflexes with age and turns to orange-brown. Leaf is dark green. This plant is similar to ‘Moerheim Beauty’.
150cm tall with red and white petals.
150cm tall. The flower is 55mm across with a light brown cone. Petals upsweeping and upwardly curled towards margins. Deep yellow very variably marked or-red in a broad band with stronger marks on reverse.
A little reminiscent of ‘Sahins Early Flowerer’ but 125cm tall. Flowers are 50mm across with a dark brown cone. Gold yellow and uneven red-orange wash, reverse more orange red. The leaf is dark green.
Tall and late flowering plant at its best in September. 150cm tall. ‘Peregrinum’ and ‘Superbum Rubrum’ are similar.
Around 150cm tall. Flower 60mm across with a small light brown cone. Loose shaggy clear yellow petals with lemon-yellow reverse, flowering from mid August. Leaf mid-green.
(‘Yellowhammer’) A new selection from Dr. Konrad Näser.
Height 115cm. Small flower 40mm across with a green to red-brown cone. The petals are a rich red with reverse similar. Leaf is mid-green. Early flowers are obscured by taller later ones. Raised by Karl Foerster in 1956. There may be a separate plant known as ‘Mahogoni’ which was also introduced by Foerster.
Golden yellow, lightly speckled orange, brown, green centre - formal shape - very free flowering, flowers 75mm across. Grows to 120cm tall. Also found as ‘Gold Rustle". see also ‘Zimbelstern’ which is very similar.
Brick red flowers, 55mm across in a round dome (compare to ‘Karneol’ which has flat heads of flowers). Cone green then brown, petals rolled or quilled initially, some yellow on young petals, then they open flat brown-red with the reverse similar. Leaf rather blotched, mid-green.
Height 110cm. Flowers 50mm across with a greeny yellow cone. Rich yellow petals, slightly reflexed, flattish flower, some gaps. About 7 notches in the end of each petals - formal shape. Leaf is big and dark green.
Flowers are 50mm across with rich yellow petals and greenish-yellow cone. Height 100cm. Short flowering season.
85cm tall. Flowers are brick red 30mm across with a similar colour reverse. Big squarish cone. Rather like a red form of ‘Goldfuchs’. Very young cone is distinctly striped with a radiating brown pattern over light green. Leaf light green (a cross between ‘Koningstiger’ and ‘Rubinkuppel’ by Brian Kabbes from Leeuwarden in Friesland, Holland).
Petals are very laid back (compare with ‘Bruno’), rich red ground fades to ochre-brown, reverse is an even dark red, flower 65mm across. Brown cone. Height 90cm. Raised by Ruys at Dedemsvaart in the Netherlands.
Golden yellow ground distinctive red brown base especially when young. The reverse is yellow tipped red. Grows to 90cm.
Brown-red, blurred yellow band around the heart and the tips, the brown-red is flamed, flowering a long time, mid-late; very hardy; a good grower with strong upright stems. Height 150cm. Selected, named and described by Inez Arnold from Nijmegen in Holland.
A handsome German selection with rayed flowers of red with gold margins. Flowering late summer. Height 120cm.
(‘Redcap’) Gappy rolled petals, rich mahogany red, dark brown cone, light green leaf. Selected and named by Karl Foerster 1952.
A dark red flower with a brown cone. Grows to 80cm tall. The leaf tends to be asymmetric with a slight twist along its length. Strong stems do not need support. Selected and named by Zur Linden.
Flowering in midsummer (not especially early), the flowers open light orange-yellow turning orange and red in an irregular pattern with the reverse similar ending up rich burnt orange. Flowers have reflexed petals and are 70mm across with a dark brown cone. Leaf dark green. Grows to 90cm tall.
A classic Helenium close to the species H.bigelovii. Clear golden yellow flowers 65mm across, brown eye, reverse is an even yellow. Grows to 75cm tall.
A good rich red with a large dark brown cone on a shortish plant. Similar to ‘Beaudirektor Linne’ and ‘Meranti’. Leaf marked. Selected and named by Coen Jansen from Dedemsvaart, Holland.
Flower 75mm across, burnt yellow ground strongly marked orange/red except at petal base which remains yellow, reverse fairly even orange-brown. Orange-red colour intensifies as flower ages, stubby leaves. Flowering early summer. Grows to 90cm tall.
75cm tall. Many but sparsely petalled rich yellow flowers well spaced throughout the plant, flower 60mm across with a light brown cone with purple tints when young. Leaf mid green. Early to flower so needs dead-heading during the main Helenium display.
Flowers early from mid-June. 80cm tall with flower 65mm across. 20mm dark brown cone, flower notably "flat" fairly sparsely petalled and somewhat unevenly washed red. Leaf dark green. Similar to ‘Goldfuchs’ but rather less tawny markings. Selected and named by Thomas Grove and Sons at their Wyndley nursery in Sutton Coldfield.
(‘Cymbal Star’) 120cm tall, flowering from early August. The flower is 60mm across, rich yellow tinged red-brown, flattish flower reverse more brown/red overwash. When young it opens flat, some with an upsweep, dark brown cone. Leaf mid green and a little marked. see also ‘Goldrausch’ Raised by Karl Foerster in 1956.
