Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wildflower Wednesday - Sneezeweed


Helenium autumnale, commonly known as sneezeweed, joins cardinal flower in the swale at the back of our property. Both are blooming and thriving in the section that never dries out. It should be a perfect spot for them, since they like moist to wet soil.

Started from seed from Monica's seed swap just this spring, it's a thrill seeing helenium bloom its first season, especially since it's planted in a pretty shady spot in our swale. This is the first time having helenium in our garden.

Native in Illinois, common sneezeweed grows 3-5 feet tall, and will bloom in full to part sun. It's deer- and rabbit-resistant thanks to its bitter-tasting foliage. Since we have rabbit issues here, I was happy to learn this while researching it before choosing the seeds from Monica's swap.

Sneezeweed blooms late in the season, making it a great plant for adding color to the garden at a time when blooms can be in short supply.

To see more natives plants growing in gardens everywhere, please visit Gail at Clay and Limestone, who hosts Wildflower Wednesday on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

16 comments:

  1. I have Lobelia Cardinalis and it did not bloom this year, but I had just put it in this spring.

    Believe it or not, I am looking through a Halloween Catalog with unbelievable decor. Don't worry I am not going to order anything but I can't believe what is out there!

    Eileen

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  2. We have great taste in wildflowers! I like this pretty little flower and sure hope i can keep it happy! Glad you joined the celebration~ gail

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  3. Hi Eileen, hopefully your cardinal flowers will bloom next year. They didn't bloom here the first year either - just had that pretty little rosette of leaves at ground level.

    Halloween is just around the corner - no reason not to start getting ready now!

    I think so too Gail! I had to chuckle when I went to pick up your link for this post and found you were talking about sneezeweed too. Kinda cool that it's blooming at the same time in your garden and here!

    I'm so glad you dreamed up Wildflower Wednesday! What a wonderful way to increase awareness of our beautiful, valuable, important native plants.

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  4. The pretty yellow flower is like daisy. Nice ;-D

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  5. It's like a littel sun in the garden! Lovely.
    Kind regards
    Alex

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  6. I think so too Stephanie. Sneezeweed is in the aster family along with so many other daisy-looking flowers.

    I agree Alex. For us it's a little sunshine in a shady spot!

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  7. I didn't realize helenium needed moist soil...maybe it would make a good addition to the rain garden!

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  8. Now, how did I miss out on this seed in Monica's seed swap?? I will definitely have to look for these seeds next year; I don't have any helenium and have always wanted to plant some. Yours looks very happy where it's planted.

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  9. A bright shining little face that must look striking with the cardinal flower, Linda. I don't have this here but will look for it at the lake.

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  10. I didn't realize it either Rose, until I looked it up when I was ruminating over which seeds to pick. I think it would make a great addition to your rain garden!

    Hi Rose, You may have missed it because there were so many people in the swap Monica did two swaps - you must have been in the 'other' one.

    It does look nice with the cardinal flower Joey. Hopefully you can find it at the lake. It's probably coming into bloom right about now.

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  11. As a hay-fever person, the name of this plant worries me a little!

    Esther

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  12. I know what you mean Esther! It is a scary-sounding plant to allergy sufferers.

    Gail featured sneezeweed on her Wildflower Wednesday post too. She explained how sneezeweed got it's name, and fortunately it's not due to allergy issues.

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  13. Look at you with all this posting! ;-) I didn't realize it would bloom the first year from seed; yeah! And what's more ironic is, mine is in a dry area I never water. It *is* next to the rain barrel which sometimes overflows, but not at all in their path as I'd hoped. I love sneezeweed! :) The name is becomes native Americans used it as snuff, not because it makes people sneeze. :)

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  14. Um, "is becomes" should have been "is because" and that comment was for Esther! :)

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  15. But, Monica - people sniff snuff to make them sneeze!

    Esther

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  16. Monica, I'm not even sure where I found the time. There's just so much going on in the garden, I could do a daily post. I just went out this morning and found one of the hardy cyclamen planted last fall blooming. (I actually DID plant a few bulbs last fall!)

    I didn't expect bloom the first year. It's a nice surprise. Funny thing, I did experiment with one and put in a spot in the dry, dry shade garden, and that one's thriving too, but not blooming even though it's getting more sun than the ones in the swale.

    LOL Esther!

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