Helenium 'Mardi Gras'
Common: sneezeweed — PP15124Helenium 'Mardi Gras' PP15124 - 50 per flat
- Height: 36"-40"
- Spread: 24"-36"
- Spacing: 18"-24"
- Hardiness Zone(s): 4-8
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Plant Details
Helenium 'Mardi Gras' produces a festival of multicolored blooms to jazz up the garden for six to eight weeks in mid to late summer. Yellow petals are lavishly edged with bright orange-red, aging to clear red edged in gold, all surrounding deep chestnut cones. Gorgeous in a pot! Great as a cut flower, its long stems are sturdy and vase life is long. Heleniums are naturally resistant, even toxic, to deer and rabbits. An early pinch back helps promote branching.
Characteristics & Attributes
Exposure
- Full Sun
Soil Moisture Needs
- Average
- Moist
Plug Type
- Horticultural Plug
For Animals
- Deer Resistant
- Pollinator-friendly
- Caution: Toxic
Attributes
- Clay Tolerance
- Cut Flower
Season of Interest (Flowering)
- Late Summer
- Fall
- Summer
Propagation Type
- Vegetative
Care & Maintenance
Good resistance to most insects and diseases. Will thrive in full sun and well-drained soil. While it's happiest with frequent waterings, it does not require high fertility levels. Fertilize sparingly to reduce risk of weak stems. Plants may benefit from being cut back in early spring to encourage more branching and floriferous growth. Foliage should be cut back after flowering. May need staking.
Interesting Notes
Produces a riot of multicolored blooms for six to eight weeks in summer, from late June to early August. Yellow petals, lavishly splashed with orange red, form wildly patterned stiff skirts around deep brown, mounded center cones. The "tie-dyed" flowers are 1.5 to 2 inches (3-5 cm) in diameter. Forms upright clumps with sturdy stems that sway gracefully in summer breezes. A massed planting will form tight shrubby bushes of impressive size in two years. - Must Have Perennials™
Winner of the Calgary Horticultural Society's 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year Award
Sneezeweed is a natural rabbit repellant.