I've begun to realize this blog must be very disappointing to lots of flower gardeners lately. Maybe people aren't "coming for the food."
SO! This beauty has mystified me. It's a perennial, it's about 4' tall, and...I haven't a clue what it is. It's blooming now (obviously), and I appreciate that, as many of the riotous July flowers have finished. Does anyone have a clue what it is?
10 comments:
I'm not sure, but this looks like some kind of Coreopsis, based on the flowers. But, I'm not sure!
Where's the food? ;-)
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Helenium autumnale
I think--It looks like what I have labeed that in my yard.
My first thought was sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale). Here's a good site: http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/heleniumautu.html
It's a fairy umbrella.
A third vote for helenium... I wish I could find one in that lovely yellow color. Around here I've only seen an orange/red combo. (That's nice, too, but your lemony yellow really struck me.)
Yay! I knew I could count on you all!!!
I took a picture of the plant yesterday, saying to myself, geez, I need to look this up in one of my 100 gardening books, but hey: won't it be quicker to ask the experts out there?
Carol: I agree it looks like a coreopsis but its habit is absurdly tall, like a wild aster. And stick around for the food!
Jana: YAY. Although I am not so excited about the "autumnale" designation...
Tracy: Sneezeweed! (Gesundheit!) Thanks for the link, too. Although my allergies...
CC: Definitely.
Kim: Thanks for the vote; it's a quorum on helenium. And that is interesting about the color...I wish I had more of them, as they're very hardy and reliable. Oh, wait: it's a perennial: I can divide it at will.
Last fall I received a few seedheads of a yellow helenium that I wintersowed in milk jugs. Several came up and are now starting to flower.I took a few pictures this week. A perennial that blooms first year with such great color is a find.I want to try the deep reds next.
I absolutely love the silvery green color,shape and brocade like texture of the basal leaves. I have seen these flowers growing but never paid much attention to the foliage before.
Anyway just wanted to let you know how easy it is to start from seed.
What a great tip, Gloria. I know some people are really fond of winter sowing, and even I have tried it with spinach and lettuce. I will have to give this a shot this year to see what comes up this spring!
About the leaf texture I seem to have mixed up yellow gaillardia foliage with helenium (to many yellow flowers, I really should get a good red helenium) but the seed information stands. I am growing both.
I see you grow lots of food. Do you have a bumper crop this year of all things squash related???
Even the ornamental gourds are taking over and swamping anything trying to grow nearby.
Gloria, like you, we're swimming in squash here! I usually overplant because my nemesis, the squash bug, usually infests the crops early and completely. This year, no bugs, and too much squash! (I have a post in my head about all the squash bread I have been making, so stay tuned.) But a yellow gaillardia sounds interesting. I have one that verges on orange
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