Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'
Helenium 'Mardi Gras' · Asteraceae
Yellow petals splashed and streaked with orange-red, no two flowers the same, around a deep brown cone.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early July to early September
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'
The planner designed this bed around sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' × 3, yellow
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Candy Stripe' × 6, pink
- 3 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 8, red
- 4 New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' × 4, pink
- 5 Leadplant × 1, purple
- 6 Star of Persia × 2, purple
- 7 Spring starflower × 7, blue
Why this plant
- The only yellow.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 10 weeks. From early July to early September.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%. Cool colours (pink, purple and blue) with yellow and red as the warm notes.
The planner's own design check: 8 Excellent, 9 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A sturdy, bushy helenium that flowers for eight weeks or more. The mixed colours link the yellows and reds of a late-summer border.
- A long season of hot colour
- Butterflies
- Late-summer borders
What to plant with sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- New England aster: happy in the same moist soil.
- Bee balm: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'
Does sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' need sun or shade?
Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts are poisonous if eaten in quantity, especially to grazing animals, and the sap can irritate skin.
Is there a pet-safe plant like sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'?
These come closest to doing what sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- False sunflower 'Summer Sun': the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; wants average soil.
- Coneflower 'Cheyenne Spirit': the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 10 in shorter, wants average soil.
- Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early July to early October, wants average soil.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras'?
Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue mistflower: from late August to mid October, 2½ ft tall.
What does sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' look like in winter?
Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Helenium
- Sneezeweed Helenium autumnale
- Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'
- Sneezeweed 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early July to early September; daisies; yellow, orange, red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asteraceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.