Bracteantha bracteata Heliana Scarlet - Strawflower

The Bracteantha Heliana Scarlet is the reddest of this series of hybrid Heliana everlasting flowers, exceptionally floriferous. With a very dense and neat appearance, this annual offers a particularly long flowering period, compensating for the modest size of its ruby-coloured flowers. It is a remarkably generous everlasting flower that forms a beautiful and highly blooming cushion for almost 5 months without the need to remove faded flowers. Its vibrant flowers bring life to any border or pots. They are also perfect in bouquets, fresh or dried.

The Bracteantha Heliana Scarlet is a recent horticultural creation, a hybrid that does not produce seeds but devotes all its energy to flowering. It is an annual plant of the Asteraceae family; it has flowers organized in heads, but the heads of the everlasting flower are distinguished from daisies and centaureas by the absence of ray florets or petals, which are replaced by scaly, coloured, and shiny bracts. This characteristic allows the inflorescences to last a long time once dried, as the bracts do not 'wilt' like petals. The Heliana Scarlet selection is a well-compact, upright plant that reaches an average height of 35cm in bloom and 20-25 cm (8-10in) in width. Its rough stems are branched, adorned with simple, lanceolate, dark green, slightly villous leaves measuring 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3in) long. Together, they form a dense tuft. The flowering is continuous from summer to autumn, usually from June to October. It is nectariferous and highly visited by butterflies. The Heliana Scarlet heads are double and measure between 2 and 3 cm (1in) in diameter.