Stunning Summer Color – Heliopsis Always Delivers

‘Summer Sun’ is sunshine in shape, form and bloom time. The attractive daisy-shaped flowers bring sunshine into the garden from June, July and August and does it so easily and perfectly that ‘Summer Sun’ belongs in every Western garden. The beauty of this perennial is that it has native origins and grows healthy, everywhere, in every soil across the United States. ‘Summer Sun’ requires full sun and in spite of its size, is wind-resistant and never requires staking. This stature helps ‘Summer Sun’ stand out, for its impossible to miss a huge golden clump of daisies that stands thirty inches tall–and almost as wide–all massed with flowers. The size of Heliopsis, ‘Summer Sun’ demands status as a garden focal point.

Heliopsis flowers resemble the summer sun and look more like a Dahlia than a member of the hardy sunflower famil,y but like other sunflowers, Heliopsis follows the sun as it moves across the summer sky.

‘Summer Sun’s double golden yellow flowers bloom on strong stems that hold as many as ten smaller side stems. Together, they produce a tight canopy of flowers. These blooms, like everything about Heliopsis, produce an over-abundant supply of seeds. Narrow, dark seeds form in tightly packed center disks but also grow in the flower’s golden rays. If self-seeding isn’t an option, then cut heliopsis back to ground level before it starts to set seeds (toward the end of the plant’s flowering). A gardener will be glad I got cut back for starts of ‘Summer Sun’ will still appear in surprising spots in the garden.

Heliopsis is so adaptable that its primary yellow sun color accents every other flower color. They grow well with a variety of perennials.

It’s important to “deadhead” your heliopsis (and many other perennials) in order to keep the plant looking at its best. Deadheading simply means removing spent flowers. Often, a plant will bloom again once deadheading is complete.