Helenium Red Jewel

Helenium 'Red Jewel' is a particularly floriferous variety of Helenium, with a flamboyant flowering that will make a big impact in perennial borders. Its modest-sized flowers display a beautiful changing collar in shades of red and orange surrounding a prominent central cone in a chocolate colour, sprinkled with golden stamens. In bloom all summer, this variety is as spectacular in the garden as it is in bouquets. Heleniums are hardy and robust perennials, easy to grow in the sun, in any good, not too dry garden soil.

The natural varieties of Heleniums are perennial plants native to North America, usually found around marshes. The hybrid 'Red Jewel' was obtained in 2011 in England by B. Brown. This variety offers a very rich, changing colour, ranging from orange to red. This plant, with an upright habit, develops leafy stems in spring, usually reaching a height of 75cm (30in). The leaves, coloured in a bright green, are lanceolate in shape with smooth margins, and are arranged alternately along the stems. The flowering renews from late July to September. A large number of flowers organized in heads succeed each other at the top of the stems. Resembling daisies with a diameter of 4-5cm (2in), these heads are centered around a cone in a brown colour, gradually giving way to yellow stamens. On the periphery, dark red florets gradually fade, taking on an orange hue. It is when the sun shines on them that these colours are most astonishing. After the flowers, seeds appreciated by birds and some small mammals follow. The above-ground vegetation of the Helenium disappears in winter and re-emerges in spring.

Helenium 'Red Jewel' is a very hardy plant and never gets sick. It thrives in ordinary soil that remains slightly moist and loves the sun. Easy to grow, Heleniums bloom just as well in large borders as in perennial beds or flower pots. Despite all these qualities, heleniums remain rare in gardens. Perhaps because their warm tones herald autumn. This Helenium pairs very well with plants such as asters, catmints, goldenrods, grasses, or even Echinaceas. The fuzzy foliage of stachys or woody wormwoods greatly enhances the warm hue of its flowers.