Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Helenium Mardi Gras


This was my first year to order a few plants from Bluestone Perennials, and Helenium Mardi Gras was among them. Helenium also goes by the name Helen's flower, or Sneezeweed.



The flower petals are mainly yellow, splashed randomly with red. They have a sort of tie dyed look, which.... for some reason, I seem to be attracted to. (See this previous post.) The brown center cone on some of the flowers appears as though it is wearing a delicate crown around the outside edge....as seen in the bottom flower in the above photo.



This second photo shows some of the tightly packed flower buds, which are attractive in their own right. I look forward to this plant growing into it's full height and stature in the next couple of years. It it quite winsome, and has definitely secured a place in my perennial garden.

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Since Helenium also goes by the name Helen's Flower, I am dedicating this post to Helen...
my sweet sister-in-law. :-)


13 comments:

Chelle said...

super darling Mom...please, I want some seed...

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

What a pretty flower.

Anonymous said...

It is beautiful and good for you!! Isn't it fun to discover something that really performs well?

Anonymous said...

I saw that in their catalog, great flower. Thanks for sharing.

Melissa said...

Fun! It is definitely unusual.

I always love your bios for plants...

Beth said...

Very cool flower Connie. I'll have to look into that one. I love orange flowers in the garden.

Anonymous said...

What a lot of names it has. Looks like a nice sturdy blossom- one that the rain can't beat down.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

I am one heck of a fan for Helenium too ! I went through the first ones (Red & Gold)to these new splashed colour ones .. they are amazing ! glad to see another fan !
Joy

Eve said...

I love the colors and the center. That is a flower I would happily grow in my beds. Nice photo of it.

O.I.M said...

your post reminds me that I have to get some helenium back into my garden. I planted some for the first time last year and loved them. unfortunately, they were wiped out by a construction project. I had held out some hope they might survive but no such luck. yours look lovely.
Cheers
irena

Anonymous said...

Love your helenium. I planted one this spring and got to enjoy it already. Take care, Andrea

Shady Gardener said...

This is a beautiful flower. I've just looked up some information on it on Doug Green's garden site. Unfortunately it likes full sun. I don't have any of that here. Well, I can enjoy your plants!!! ;-)

Gail said...

That is a beautiful flower!