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    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
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    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
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    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
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    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
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Sneezeweed
September's Plant of the Month 2021 

Don't Let Its Name Put you off

'Helena' sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
'Helena' is a mixed cultivar with numerous colour variations and grow to 2 feet.
Rubinzwerg sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
'Rubinzwerg' is a compact cultivar with mahogany coloured petals.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
A variety of heleniums mix with a collection of cone flowers along this sunny perennial border.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Rusty brown coloured seed heads produce many seeds.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Flowers are coveted by bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
There many different varieties including this one that has a prominent ball for the centre disk with drooping ray petals.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Heleniums flower for months from late July through to first frost.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Heleniums make a statement with all their sunny flowers.
'Bandera' sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
'Bandera' is a compact cultivar that reaches 18 inches.
​Common Name:  sneezeweed
Botanical Name:  Helenium autumnale
Form:    upright, clumping
Family:  Asteraceae
Genus:  Helenium
Species:  autumnale
Plant Type: herbaceous perennial
Mature Size:  3-5 ft. tall and 2-3 ft wide
Growth: fast
Origin:  North and South Americas
Hardiness Zone: 3 to 8
Foliage:  narrow lance-shaped up to 6” long, alternate
Flowers: showy daisy-like, composite 2” flowers held in clusters, wedge-shaped, scalloped petal tips, yellow and/or orange ray petals encircle a protruding pollen laden disk. Late July to frost. 
Fruit:  rust coloured seed clusters
Stems:  winged stems that branch at the ends
Exposure:  sun
Soil:  tolerant of most soil except very dry
Uses:  perennials borders, mixed borders, containers, meadows, naturalized areas, cottage gardens, pollinators, butterflies, songbirds, rain garden, along streams & ponds, cut flower, deer resistant
Propagation:   seeds, division of roots
Pruning:  cut back stems in late May to early June to encourage compact growth, more flowers and to reduce the need for staking, deadhead spent flowers to encourage continuous blooms
​Problems:  not prone to insects or diseases, intolerant of dry soils
Comments: 
This delightful and showy late blooming perennial has many assets, except for its name –sneezeweed. Once used as snuff, their dried leaves were inhaled to rid the body of evil spirits. Now it’s used as a reliable, easy growing perennial, perfect for sunny locations that flowers for months long after other flowers have faded.  
 
Plant breeders have created new and exciting varieties and cultivars from this wetland loving indigenous plant from the Americas. Colours now range from yellow, orange, deep reds and golds in delightful combinations. Flowers are bigger and more bodacious on smaller and more compact plants.
 
Their daisy-like, composite flowers are perfect for butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects. Their round centre provide a perfect place for them to land so they can easily feed on the copious amounts of pollen.
 
Heleniums like moist organic rich soil and are a perfect late summer and fall flower when planted next to streams, ponds and raingardens. To increase soil moisture and retention, add compost, composted manure and other organic matter. 
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Leaves are simple and lance-shaped.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Pinch the tips off stems in May to early June to promote compact growth and more flowers.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Ridges along the stems are a good way to identify heleniums.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
This 5 year old sneezeweed plant needs to be dug up and divided.
sneezeweed,helenium autumnale,North America indigenous plant,wildflower,autumn flowering perennial,fall flowers,plants for moist soils,September plant of the month
Keeping it simple with a single type of helenium planted en masse.

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
  • Garden Club Events