Sneezeweed Autumnale (Helenium Autumnale) - You'll enjoy this dazzling sight grown from Helenium seeds! These snazzy blooms of Autumn Sneezeweed have a prominent central cone of yellow or dark brown which highlights the bright petals of red or bold yellow. Included in this mix is also a few rich mahogany solids and some jazzy bi-color red-and-golds for contrast. Helenium Sneezeweed flowers bloom like crazy all over sun-loving plants from early summer right into fall -- a dazzling sight indoors or out!

Helenium flower seed is a native American perennial, so you know it is right at home in the sunny garden. The plant can reach 48 inches tall and 18 inches wide, with dozens of flowering stems. It is a magnet for bees, and it needs to be deadheaded to keep blooming. It makes a great cut flower, so take all you want because Helenium will just keep producing more blooms.

Helenium is also known as Common Sneezeweed or Dogtooth Daisy. This name was given because its foliage irritates the skin of some people. Wear gloves the first few times you handle the plant. The flowers, however, are allergen-free, so the cut flowers can be brought indoors for vases without any worry.

Sneezeweed seeds can take from 14 - 21 days to germinate, and temperatures needs to be at least 70F degrees for germination to take place. Cover the flower seed lightly with top soil. Once the plants are growing well, pinch them back in the spring by 8 - 10 inches, just above a new set of leaves. This will encourage bushier growth, but it will also delay blooming until later in the summer. Helenium plants need plenty of water throughout the growing season. Cut Autumn Sneezeweed back to the ground after flowering. It is a long-lived perennial that will thrive for many years in your garden. Divide the plant every few years for best results.

Sneezeweed Hoopesii (Helenium Hoopesii) - Here is another hardy perennial that is grown from Helenium seed. Commonly called Mountain Helenium, Orange Sneezeweed or Owl's Claws, this Helenium Hoopesii grows from a taproot, so propagation from flower seeds is recommended. Orange Sneezeweed is an erect, clump-forming perennial with basal rosettes of lance-shaped, grey-green leaves that gradually become smaller toward the stem tops. It is a good flower to have in the cutting garden with its branched clusters of rich golden colored flowers which bloom in early summer.

Mountain Helenium grows approximately 28 - 30 inches tall with daisy-like flowers that measure 3 inches across. Helenium Hoopesii is native to wet meadows, high elevations, and the Sierra Nevada area. It needs full sun to partial shade to do well with consistent moisture. Start Helenium seeds in a prepared seedbed in the late winter or early spring. Lightly cover the flower seed and tamp them into the soil. Keep the seedbed moist. When Helenium seeds are started in early spring, they will bloom the first year.