HELIANTHUS salicifolius

Description

Helianthus salicifolius

Height x Spread:  150cm x 100cm

A sunflower like no other, Helianthus salicifolius is often grown just for its unusual foliage but the vivid yellow daisies are a real treat too.   A herbaceous perennial, it develops clumps of very tall elegant stems that are clothed from top to bottom in fresh green narrow thread-like leaves that arch away from the stem and hang creating a fine but transparent silhouette that is very striking.  From late summer into autumn each stem is topped off by a spray of yellow daisy flowers, the petals gently ruffled as they open, each bloom set off by a cinnamon centre.

A stunning statement plant for any border in full sun with reasonable, fairly fertile neutral to alkaline soil, there is a tropical air to its form which would contrast well with larger leaved plants.  Use it too as an ingredient in a prairie planting scheme with tall ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus and Calamagrostis; its flowers dancing alongside the fine heads of the grasses.