Helenium Wyndley

The 'Wyndley' Helenium is a medium-sized variety of Helenium, appreciated for its very long and particularly bright summer flowering: its flowers, reminiscent of flamboyant daisies, display a delicately flamed yellow-orange corolla with a large brown heart in the centre. The beautiful dark green foliage perfectly complements the warm hue of the flowers. It is a robust perennial, easy to grow in the sun in moist soil. It is  ideal for bouquet arrangements.

The natural species of Heleniums are perennials native to North America, generally found in wetlands or in humid and sunny places. The 'Wyndley' cultivar offers an early and remarkably long summer flowering, renewing from June-July to September, a radiant colour and a relatively compact growth habit. The upright habit of the plant corresponds to robust and ramified leafy stems, reaching about 80cm (32in) in height. The coloured leaves, dark green and lanceolate with slightly dentate margins, are alternately arranged along the stems. The flowers bloom at the tips of the stems. Resembling 6-8cm (2-3in) diameter daisies, the heads are centered around a large cone coloured brown, gradually giving way to yellow stamens. At the periphery, colourful florets of yellow-orange fade, more or less tinged with brick or copper shades. It is when the sun highlights them that these colours are most surprising.

The 'Wyndley' Helenium is a very hardy plant and never gets sick. It appreciates ordinary but moist soils and very sunny exposures.  Easy to grow, it blooms as well on slopes and in flowerbeds as in pots on the terrace or balcony. Despite all these qualities, Heleniums remain rare in gardens. Perhaps because their warm tones herald the arrival of autumn. This Helenium pairs very well with yellow summer blooms (Goldenrods), blue ones (Catmints, Buglosses, perennial Sages), but also with asters and grasses. It can also be associated with deciduous Euonymus or Cotinus with sublime foliage from the first cold days. In a more Mediterranean setting, the grey foliage of Stachys or Afghan Sages greatly enhances the warm hue of its flowering.