Helianthus salicifolius Table Mountain

Helianthus salicifolius 'Table Mountain' is a dwarf and bushy variety of the Willow-leaved Sunflower. This perennial offers a very original flowering, arranged in a short stem of bulb above its beautiful dark green and shiny foliage. It blooms in small golden yellow daisies, with a darker centre in late summer and autumn. This little sunflower will bring a lot of cheerfulness to meadows and the flower mass of asters at the end of the season. Perennial sunflowers have a bad reputation due to the wild species that were once offered and tended to invade the entire garden because of their long trailing rhizomes. The plants we offer are not or hardly invasive. For any ordinary soil, even clayey, not too dry, in full sun of course.

Helianthus salicifolius 'Table Mountain', also called Willow-leaved Sunflower, belongs to the Asteraceae (Compound) family. The genus Helianthus includes one of the most important oil plants in the world, the sunflower from which oil is extracted. This perennial sunflower with small leaves comes from a tall perennial native to the meadows of North America. 'Table Mountain' forms a bushy and ramified clump, about 35 to 40cm (14 to 16in) high, with a base spread of 60cm (24in). The whole forms a dense bouquet of solid, rough, and ramified stems. The flowering takes place from August-September to October, sometimes until the first frosts, and is very melliferous. The flowers appear at the top of the stems, in large numbers, grouped in flat umbels. They resemble small, perfectly round, semi-double daisies, 4cm (2in) in diameter, with an intense golden yellow colour and a brown centre. The leaves, deciduous, dark green, very shiny, lanceolate, measure 8cm (3in) long. They are distributed up to the top of the stems. This plant develops from a slightly invasive rhizomatous stump, bearing whitish fibrous roots.

The great interest of perennial sunflowers is their late flowering and excellent adaptation to heavy, clayey, humid, and even limestone soils. Helianthus salicifolius 'Table Mountain' is an excellent non-invasive, compact perennial with good longevity. Vigorous, it is perfect for tall borders and flower beds or massifs. It is a variety with a countryside look and, as such, it will blend well in slightly wild areas of the garden, alongside Cosmos, sainfoin, perennial sweet peas, tall Scabious, Gaillardia, Japanese anemone, pendulous Carex. Another idea for association, with equally easy plants: Vernonia noveboracensis, Symphyotrichum laeve var. 'Bluebird', Eupatorium fistulosum, Symphyotrichum georgianum, Andropogon virginicus, Muhlenbergia capillaris.