Helenium Flammenspiel

Helenium 'Flammenspiel' is undoubtedly one of the most striking sneezeweed varieties. This tall perennial produces an abundance of flowers in late summer, resembling large daisies in an incandescent orange colour, fading to golden yellow, surrounding a large yellow and chocolate cone. The florets are slightly trailing. Heleniums, in general, are ideal for creating bouquets, as they are hardy plants that are easy to grow.

Heleniums are perennial plants native to North America, where they are typically found along marshes. The 'Flammenspiel' cultivar, sometimes marketed as 'Dancing Flames', has a very rich colour and vigorous growth. It has an upright habit with stems reaching over 1m (3ft) in height. The leaves are brightly coloured, lanceolate in shape with smooth margins, and arranged alternately along the stems. From August to October, a myriad of flowers appears at the top of the stems. The flower heads resemble large daisies, measuring 6 to 8cm (3in) in diameter, centred around a prominent brown cone, with yellow stamens arranged in a concentric circle at the periphery. At the edges, the florets are intensely orange with touches of yellow, fading to a golden hue. This flowering heralds the beginning of autumn colours.

'Flammenspiel' is a robust, hardy, and disease-free plant that thrives in a wild garden. It prefers ordinary soils and sunny exposures. Easy to grow, it can be planted on embankments, in flower beds, or in containers. Despite all these qualities, heleniums remain rare in gardens (perhaps because their warm tones prematurely announce autumn). They are the perfect complement to asters. When combined with rudbeckias, it pairs well with autumnal plants such as sunflowers, shrubby asters, or heucheras, but it can also be associated with a deciduous spindle tree whose foliage ignites at the first cold snap, or a dyer's vine. In a different setting, the fuzzy foliage of stachys or officinal salvias greatly enhances the warm hue of this flowering. The vigorous growth of this variety will require staking.