Grow nature’s little sunbeams
These radiant daisies come in a range of cheerful shades. Val Bourne shares her pick of the best
Radiant heleniums steal the show as our plant in focus this month
As soon as July arrives, the first of the sun-loving daisies appear. Heleniums are among the most beguiling, with their small, warm-toned flowers in tomato reds, clear oranges and bright yellows. The dazzling petals surround a velvet-brown nose that’s packed with tiny nectar-rich flowers. As the days go by, this turns into a fuzzy crown that finally encompasses the entire brown middle, drawing in bees and butterflies. Heleniums prefer good fertile soil and a bright position because they’re found in moist meadows across North America. Like all daisies, they worship the sun and it’s worth remembering that the name ‘daisy’ is a corruption of ‘day’s eye’. So, if it’s too shady, heleniums fail to develop their bright colours and can look limp and insipid.
Short ones flower first
Although there are roughly 40 species in North America, most of our garden forms are hybrids bred from Helenium autumnale, a species with a wide geographical range. As a result, they vary in colour, height and flowering times. Shorter heleniums flower first, often in July. Taller ones, which can reach 1.2m (4ft) or more, are likely to bloom in September. These are best grown at the back of a border, because their foliage becomes ragged before they flower. They also need staking. Heleniums are very hardy and this has made them popular in northern Europe. A classic is coppery-red ‘Moerheim Beauty’, which was raised in Holland in 1930. It’s still a favourite today because the petals droop, giving it great elegance. ‘Moorheim Beauty’ reaches just above 90cm (3ft) and, generally, the shorter types are more successful in the garden than the lankier ones. Newer rich-red cultivars include compact ‘Chelsey’ and ‘Hot Lava’, and slightly taller ‘Indianersommer’, which flowers in late July. There are also brilliant yellows, such as ‘Butterpat’ (left): a semidouble with a yellow cone and neatly frilled petals. The emerging flowers have a lovely green tinge, so it looks summerfresh when it arrives in July. Or, you may prefer an orange glow: ‘Baudirektor Linne’ is tall with gold flowers streaked orange-red; ‘Feuersiegel’ is striped red and yellow; ‘Rauchtopas’ has yellow petals that curl up to reveal dark apricot backs. One helenium, ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’, tolerates drier soil. It’s long flowering as well as early flowering, and vivid; the orange and brown flowers appear to shimmer in a border. If you’ve failed before, it’s the one to try.