Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty'
Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' · Asteraceae
Velvety, coppery-red petals swept back from a prominent brown knob, fading to burnt orange. The classic helenium, raised in 1930.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to early September
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty'
The planner designed this bed around sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' × 3, red
- 2 Blue moor grass × 9, purple
- 3 Stemless gentian × 19, blue
- 4 Sneezeweed × 4, yellow
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Pincushion flower 'Butterfly Blue' × 5, lavender
- 7 Double snowdrop × 8, white
Why this plant
- The only red.
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 sneezeweed (4 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 9 weeks. From mid July to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With sneezeweed and pincushion flower 'Butterfly Blue' in early August: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The longest in flower is pincushion flower 'Butterfly Blue': 21 weeks, from mid May to early October. Sneezeweed and sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 'Moerheim Beauty' 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.
The warm, rusty tones of late summer begin here. It flowers earlier than most, repeats if deadheaded, and stands without staking in soil that does not dry out.
- Rich colour for late summer
- Partnering with grasses
- Cutting
What to plant with sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster': in flower together for nine weeks, from mid July; tall enough (5 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Bee balm: purple against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; happy in the same moist soil.
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe': in flower together for seven weeks, from late July; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty'
Does sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' need sun or shade?
Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid 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 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 7 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 8 | Early July 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 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Moerheim Beauty'?
These come closest to doing what sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Garden phlox 'Laura': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; purple, not red.
- Obedient plant 'Miss Manners': the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 10 in shorter, white, not red.
- Coneflower 'Cheyenne Spirit': the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 10 in shorter, 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 'Moerheim Beauty'?
Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- 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.
- Bottle gentian: from late August to early October, 20 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' look like in winter?
Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' 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 'Mardi Gras' Helenium 'Mardi Gras'
- 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
- Mid July to early September; daisies; red, orange
- 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.