If you jazz big , bold helianthus but stave off them in your garden because of their behemoth sizing , regard planting their smaller , more cultured cousin , Heliopsis helianthoides . Yes , that ’s a mouthful but the name is easy to say ( hee - lee - OP - sis hee - lee - an - THOY - deez ) . If the scientific name causes you to glass over , just refer to it by its common name , which is off-key helianthus or oxeye helianthus . Heliopsishas gold jaundiced flower that lend some much - need punch and pizzazz to the arid August garden . This clustering - take shape perennial is an excellent selection for cut garden , bungalow gardens and godforsaken prime meadows . aboriginal to the eastern half of the United States and Canada , Heliopsisis drouth and heat tolerant once establish and will expand in corpse soil . Although it does n’t mind dry land , it does appreciate an occasional drink of water during the hottest days of summertime to keep it at its tidy and most generative . It prefers full sun , but will endure partial shade as long as it receives at least four to five hours of sun a day .
A number ofHeliopsiscultivars are available commercially . ‘ Summer Sun ’ ( also known as ‘ Sommersonne ’ ) is one of the easier cultivar to find at our local garden kernel . It forms an upright clump three to four foundation marvelous and two to three feet extensive . If your garden is too small for a works this size , try pruning or pinching the stems back in mid - spring . That will retard bloom for a duet of week , but it will leave in a shorter , sturdier plant . ‘ Summer Sun ’ bring on lots of showy single or semi - double daisy - like orange - yellow flowers from June through September . For lots of visual fervor in the late summertime border , pair it with purples and blues or a touch of bolshie . try out purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea ) , gayfeather ( Liatris spicata ) , ‘ Lucifer’Crocosmia , ‘ Bishop of Llandaff ’ dahlia , or ‘ Victoria Blue ’ salvia . For a really stunning combination , pair off it with one of the deeper regal - blue veronica ( Veronica officinalis ) cultivars , such as ‘ Summer Border Blue ’ or ‘ Royal Candles . ’Heliopsisalso mix very well with cosmetic dope .
‘ Summer Nights ’ is another pronto available cultivar . Similar in sizing to ‘ Summer Sun , ’ this cultivar is a little looser looking in habit . It has obscure green , bronze - tinge foliage on narrow-minded , disconsolate red root . Each shank is pinch by clusters of prosperous yellow flowers , some of which display counterpoint mahogany ruby-red centers . ‘ Ballerina ’ is a slimly more compact cultivar with a bushy , well - branched substance abuse and semi - double yellow blossoms . It is 24 to 36 inches marvelous and 18 to 24 inches wide . ‘ Golden Plume ’ is a doubled - flowered variety with 2 - 1/2 in wide blush . cultivar ‘ Loraine Sunshine ’ and ‘ Sunburst ’ have motley cream and green leaf . However , like many variegate plants , the foliage tends to fall behind its variegated characteristics and may green out as the days farm blistering in this part of Virginia .
Heliopsisis fundamentally a tough , light - to - uprise plant . Once it is established , it will flourish in rocky , sandy or clay dirt as long as the soil is well enfeeble . It can handle a mountain range of soil pH , but prefers soil somewhere in the electroneutral range . Go easy on the organic thing and plant food . to a fault rich soil can cause leggy stem growth , which could necessitate staking . Deadhead expend blooms to excite new buds . That will keep the floral display going into fall . Deadheading also serve prevent ego - sowing . Heliopsiscan be arise from seed , but a better wager is to divide clumps every three to four years in either give or gloaming . This works has no serious pest or disease problems although it can be susceptible to aphids . Just administer with them with a tart spray of water from your garden hose . Powdery mildew and rusts may also affect these plants but generally not to the extent that the trouble requires command measures . Heliopsisis a butterfly magnet and bees roll in the hay it as well . Best of all , deer do n’t normally bother it , nor do voles . What ’s not to care about this works ?
