Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’
A Summer Fiesta in Your Garden!
The biggest late summer garden complaint from consumers in my days of working at the garden center was “My garden is just so drab in the mid to late summer….what can I do to make it look more lively??” Most times that complaint is based on the selection of plants in the landscape. A garden loaded with wonderful spring bloomers may be breathtaking in May but yawn inducing in July and August.
There are loads of great summer bloomers like Echinacea to alleviate this problem along with others like one of my favorite summer plants, Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’. This Blooms of Bressingham® selection may not be as well known or as popular as the flood of Echinacea on the market these days but it is an easy care, blooming powerhouse that is incredibly rewarding with very little input needed from the consumer. ‘Mardi Gras’ loves a full sun area at the back of a garden with ample room to move. In exchange for those simple needs it rewards you with a seemingly unending show of 2” diameter daisy-like blooms with dark brown central cones and yellow rays splashed with generous helpings of orange and red shades. The pattern of colors is never the same from bloom to bloom creating a fiesta of unique color that will run from late June to late August. ‘Mardi Gras’ is hardy to Zone 4 and, if used liberally, will end once and for all that complaint about drab summer gardens!