Helenium autumnale Mariachi™ 'Siesta'

Helenium 'Siesta', also known as Hybrid Autumn Sneezeweed, is a recent Dutch creation. This compact and bushy variety offers a mass of dazzling daisies in late summer, with ligulate petals in blue-red, touched with orange on the edges, surrounding a prominent burgundy heart circled in yellow, creating a superb bicolour effect. The branched and sturdy stems of this robust perennial provide an abundance of flowers for bouquets. Easy to grow in the sun and in moist soil, this generous plant warms the heart and delights the eye, both in the garden and in pots.

Heleniums are perennials from the aster family, native to North America, where they most often grow near wetlands. The 'Siesta' cultivar comes from the autumnal Helenium species, a perennial with very richly coloured flowers and vigorous growth. 'Siesta' is a compact and very floriferous variety. It has a squat and bushy habit, with branched stems reaching a height of 40 to 55cm (16 to 22in). The coloured leaves, a bright green with smooth margins, are arranged alternately along the stems. From August to October, a large number of flower heads tirelessly bloom at the top of the stems. These inflorescences resemble large 8cm (3in) diameter daisies. In the centre, the shiny burgundy cone gradually gives way to yellow stamens arranged in a concentric circle. At the periphery, red florets, with blueish reflections and orange spots on the edges, fade while allowing themselves to be slightly invaded by yellow. This almost unreasonable flowering announces with fanfare the beginning of autumn flowers and foliage.

A countryside garden without a Helenium is not a real one. 'Siesta' is a robust plant, hardy and never prone to disease. It appreciates ordinary but moist soils and sunny positions. Easy to grow, it flowers equally well on slopes, in borders and in containers on the terrace. Despite all these qualities, Heleniums remain rare in gardens. Perhaps because their warm tones announce autumn a little too quickly, while the garden and gardener are still trying to hold onto the last summer blooms; however, they are the perfect complement to asters. 'Siesta', when paired with Rudbeckias, goes very well with autumnal plants such as Heucheras and sunflowers, but it can also be associated with deciduous spindle trees, whose foliage ignites at the first cold, or with the sumptuous red vine used in dyeing. In a different setting, the velvety foliage of Stachys or salvias greatly enhances the warm hue of this flowering.