Sunflower 'Lemon Queen'
Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' · Asteraceae
Hundreds of small, pale lemon sunflowers on a towering, self-supporting clump from August to October. One of the best plants for late pollinators.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early August to late September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around sunflower 'Lemon Queen'
The planner designed this bed around sunflower 'Lemon Queen' 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 sunflower 'Lemon Queen' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' × 1, yellow
- 2 Sea thrift × 6, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 11, white
- 4 Purple milkweed × 3, purple
- 5 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 6 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 7 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only daisies. The others are globes, bells, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only yellow. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ ft it is the tallest plant 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 purple milkweed (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From early August to late September.
- Closes the season. In all that time nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 4 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, in early June. The back corners are held by sunflower 'Lemon Queen' and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 6 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 8 in at the front, 20 in in the middle and 4 ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 2½ ft and 6½ ft, and no two neighbours are the same height. 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 sunflower 'Lemon Queen' goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
The soft lemon is far easier to place than golden yellow, and looks wonderful with blue asters and purple ironweed. It is a big plant that spreads slowly; divide it every few years.
- Height and late colour at the back of a big border
- Pollinator gardens
- Screening
What to plant with sunflower 'Lemon Queen'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New England aster: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
- New York ironweed: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for seven weeks.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about sunflower 'Lemon Queen'
Does sunflower 'Lemon Queen' need sun or shade?
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does sunflower 'Lemon Queen' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sunflower 'Lemon Queen' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to late September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to late September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early August to late September |
| Zone 6 | Early August to late September |
| Zone 7 | Late July to late September |
| Zone 8 | Late July to late September |
| Zone 9 | Mid July to late 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 sunflower 'Lemon Queen' be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3½ ft (100 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sunflower 'Lemon Queen' plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is sunflower 'Lemon Queen' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like sunflower 'Lemon Queen'?
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Swamp sunflower: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late September to late October, wants moist soil.
- New York ironweed: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in narrower, purple, not yellow.
- Hardy hibiscus: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 20 in shorter, red, pink or white, not yellow.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Will sunflower 'Lemon Queen' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by underground runners and can crowd its neighbours. Dig out the edges or divide every 2 to 3 years.
What flowers after sunflower 'Lemon Queen'?
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' is over by late September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite': from mid September to early November, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does sunflower 'Lemon Queen' look like in winter?
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' 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 Helianthus
- Double perennial sunflower Helianthus x multiflorus 'Flore Pleno'
- Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
- Swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolius
- Willowleaf sunflower 'First Light' Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light'
- Woodland sunflower Helianthus divaricatus
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 3½ ft (100 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early August to late September; daisies; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. 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.