Helen's Flower Helenium

A late-season blooming native perennial with upright, clump-forming, branching plants that are abundantly covered in showy yellow disc-shaped flowers. Drawing in native pollinators, its natural habitats include meadows, open moist woodlands, marshes, and wet fields. Also known as autumn sneezeweed, even though the name implies this, it does not make you sneeze. It was used in the past to make a snuff that promoted sneezing. Low maintenance and adaptable, able to grow in full to part sun from average to wet soil. Deer resistant. Grows to 48”.

500 seeds

PLANTING

Helenium autumnule

Perennial, Zones 3-9

Germination: 7-20 days

Germination Temperature: Optimum soil temperatures 65-70ºF

Seed Planting Depth: Sow on the surface and press into soil, seeds need light to germinate

Starting Indoors:  Start indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost. Provide 65-70ºF soil temperature for germination. Transplant 18-24” apart after the last frost. 

Sowing Outdoors: Direct sow 2-3 weeks before the last frost or in autumn. Sow a few seeds every 6-8" apart, thin to the most robust seedling, 18-24” apart, or sow seeds close together in a row and when thinning out the seedlings transplant them to other places in the garden. 

Growth Habit: Upright branching

Height and Width: 48” x 24-36”  

Spacing: 18-24” apart

Light Needs: Full sun 

Soil Needs: Average to fertile, well-drained. 

Approximate days to flower from seed: Blooms the first season when started early indoors. Blooms in 100-120 days 

Uses:  Cut flowers, cottage gardens, attracts beneficial insects 

Care: Water seedlings regularly until established. May require staking or prune back growth in early summer for more compact plants. Cut back stems as the blooms fade or harvest for bouquets to encourage more flower production.