Helenium autumnale

Helenium’s yellow blooms possess a sweet, simple beauty that never fails to charm. Seemingly overnight, the plant produces a huge number of flowers, and it remains in bloom for over a month in late summer – early fall.

Native to NE Ohio wet meadows, marshes, and stream and pond margins, helenium prefers full sun and consistently moist soil. In the home landscape, helenium is especially useful for planting in wet areas. If placed in a garden bed of average moisture, helenium will likely need to be watered during drier times of the summer. In wet places, helenium provides a bold yellow complement to other late season flowers such as New England aster, purple-stemmed aster, American burnet, and white turtlehead.

Helenium produces abundant seed which can lead to seedling growth in the near vicinity of the plant. Cutting off old flowerheads prior to seed formation will limit this type of spread. Helenium also has a tendency to flop or lean, especially in gardens that have not yet filled in with vegetation. To minimize flopping, cut Helenium to half its height in June. For gardeners who have issues with deer browse, helenium is a great choice. The foliage is highly unpalatable and rarely consumed.

Helenium has a great deal of pollinator value, providing both pollen and nectar to bees that are active late in the season. Bees that are especially attracted to helenium include small carpenter bees, metallic green sweat bees, bumble bees, and long-horned bees.

References: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.

Photos by Ashley Keesling.