Helenium autumnale

Helenium autumnale: Golden Buttons That Love Wet Feet

Sneezeweed is a native that gets a bad rap for a name it didn't earn. Golden daisies with notched petals, late-season food for the bees, and it doesn't panic when the yard floods. BLESS YOU. NOW BUY IT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Helenium autumnale
• Common Name: Common Sneezeweed, Helen's Flower
• Height: 90–150 cm (3–5 ft)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Golden-yellow, daisy-like, with wedge-shaped, notched petals around a domed yellow centre
• Bloom Time: Midsummer to fall (July to October)
• Foliage: Lance-shaped green leaves along upright, winged stems
• Features: Tolerates clay and periodic flooding

Where to Plant: It's a natural for rain gardens, wet meadows, pond and stream edges, and the back of a moist sunny border. It tolerates clay and periodic flooding, so it's a good answer for clay that stays damp.

Companion Plants: Tall sneezeweed and Aster 'Pink Crush' carry the bed into fall, with pink asters from September to October. Perovskia 'Blue Jean Baby' rises 70 to 85 cm with lavender spires from July to September, a cool contrast to the warm yellow. Achillea New Vintage™ Rose fills the front half with rose flowers from June to August. Give the group full sun and steady moisture.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average to wet soil. It tolerates heavy clay and short floods but sulks in dry, sandy soil, so water during droughts. Skip rich fertilizer, which makes stems taller and floppier. To keep it shorter and bushier, pinch or cut the stems back by about a third in late spring or early summer. Otherwise, give it neighbours to lean on, or stake it. Cut back after flowering or in early spring. Divide every few years in spring to keep the clump vigorous.

History: Common sneezeweed grows wild across much of North America, including southern Ontario and Quebec, in wet meadows, stream banks, marshes and ditches. Its common name comes from the old practice of using dried, powdered flower heads as snuff to cause sneezing.

Final Thoughts: Plant it where the clay stays soggy and everything else sulks. It shows up late and stays until the lights go out. THE PARTY STARTS WHEN SUMMER WINDS DOWN.