Description
Scientific name: Helenium autumnale
Range: Upper Peninsula native
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Sand, Loam, Clay
Moisture: Moist, Wet
Benefits: Deer Resistant
Height: 4′-5′
Blooms: Aug, Sep
Zones: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Color: Yellow
Spacing: 1′
Root: Fibrous
Helen’s Flower’s cheery, abundant blooms can be found in late summer to fall, often attracting bees and butterflies, as well as comments like “Wow! What’s that??” It usually grows in moist to wet openings, edges, shores, and thickets, but it can be surprisingly versatile. Plants can reach five feet or more in height in ideal conditions. In some situations, the plants can become tall enough to need staking; they can be cut back in early summer to force shorter, more-branched flowering heads. Flowering clumps can be divided every few years. Leaves, flowers, and seeds are poisonous, so don’t plant in pastureland.
