All types of helenium ignite late summer displays with intense, fiery shades. Their stunning daisy-like flowers unfold around a central showy pin-cushion, each bloom like a vibrant shuttlecock of color. Gold, copper or ruby, these charming late summer beauties inject borders, edgings, prairie plantings and wildlife-friendly flower bed ideas with informal charm.
Flowering from mid summer and as late as mid fall, they provide vital late nectar for bees and butterflies before the cold weather sets in. Heleniums (part of the Asteraceae family) are sun-worshippers. In their native North America, they thrive in open, sun-baked areas. While flowers with a yellow base tolerate shade for part of the day, red varieties need plenty of sunshine to display the full intensity of their rich palette. Still, as Helenium autumnale heralds from the damper areas of the North American prairies, they prefer well-drained moisture-retentive soils.
