Heliopsis 'Summer Sun'

Heliopsis 'Summer Sun': Semi-Double Gold Built for Bouquets

'Summer Sun' is the friend who never needs a flashlight. Big, semi-double golden daisies in branching clusters on a tall, bushy clump, glowing from early summer on. SUNSCREEN RECOMMENDED. FOR YOU, NOT IT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra 'Summer Sun' (also sold as 'Sommersonne')
• Common Name: False Sunflower
• Height: 90–120 cm (3–4 ft)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Large, semi-double, golden yellow daisies with brown centres, in branching clusters
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Deep green, forming a tall, bushy clump
• Features: Excellent cut flower

Where to Plant: Use it in the middle or back of a sunny border, in a cutting, cottage or pollinator garden, or massed along a fence for summer colour you can see from a distance. It tolerates both sandy soil and clay.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Summer Sun' in a sunny or part-shade bed with crimson peonies, red lilies and late blue leadwort. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides carpets the front at 20 to 30 cm with gentian-blue flowers from August to October. Lilium 'Red Matrix' adds upward-facing red lilies at 30 to 50 cm in June and July. Paeonia 'Felix Crousse' brings double crimson peonies at 70 to 85 cm in June. Sesleria heufleriana adds blue-green tufts at 45 to 60 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in normal, sandy or clay soil. It prefers average to moist conditions, so water during dry spells and don't let the soil dry out completely while it's young. Removing faded flowers regularly extends the bloom season by weeks. In very rich soil or too much shade, the stems may need staking. Cut back in late fall or early spring. Divide in early spring every few years to keep the clump strong.

History: 'Summer Sun' is the English name for 'Sommersonne', a seed-raised selection of the rough-leaved form of false sunflower, var. scabra, that has been a garden standard for decades. The species is a wildflower native from Ontario south to Florida and across the Mississippi basin, at home in prairies and open woods.

Final Thoughts: Cut armfuls for the house. It barely notices. The deer don't want any. SUNSHINE ON TAP.