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Helenium
Also called Sneezeweeds, Sneezewort
Helenium, or sneezeweed, is a genus of annual and perennial daisy-like plants from the Americas, with yellow or orange flowers that bloom in late summer and fall. Grow in full sun in fertile, well-drained soil, and divide perennials yearly to keep them vigorous.
Helenium is a genus of annuals and herbaceous perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas.
They bear yellow or orange daisy-like composite flowers. A number of these species (particularly Helenium autumnale) have the common name sneezeweed, based on the former use of their dried leaves in making snuff. It was inhaled to cause sneezing that would supposedly rid the body of evil spirits. Larger species may grow up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall.
Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use – mainly from H. autumnale and H. bigelovii. They are useful for late summer and fall bloom, usually in less formal compositions. They are appropriate for native gardens in areas where they are indigenous, and they look wonderfully in bouquets. Annual species are easily grown from seed, and perennials should be divided every year in order to retain their vigor. The soil should be fertile with a generous amount of organic matter in the form of compost, manure or other decayed organic matter in addition to, perhaps, an application of a complete fertilizer in spring. Heleniums should be grown in full sun average to moist soil with good drainage. They are drought tolerant, but should be watered on planting and regularly until established.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Helenium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
