Helenium 'Tip Top'

When I was narrowing down my plant selections for this month, I was also dealing with severe North Texas allergies. In honor of allergy season (which is year-round here, it seems), I decided to focus on Helenium bigelovii, which has the common name sneezeweed.

Don’t get me wrong: Jelitto’s Helenium selection ‘Tip Top’ is lovely. Plants have bright-yellow flowers with a distinct black-brown cone. Flowers are great to use for cuts, too.

‘Tip Top’ is earlier than the species. It is more compact, too.

This helenium germinates rapidly. Jelitto recommends keeping seed in constant moisture (not wet) with a temperature of 68°. Cover seeds thinly.

After germination, keep seedlings in cooler conditions. The germination might be slower and more irregular, although this should not pose any problems.

From germination to transplant is four to eight weeks. From transplanting to salable plants takes six to 10 weeks.

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For more: Jelitto Perennial Seeds, 125 Chenoweth Lane , Louisville , KY 40207; (502) 895-0807; fax (502) 895-3934; www.jelitto.com.

- Jyme Mariani