Virginia ecotype
- Duration: Perennial
- Habit: Upright, bushy, clump-forming, often naturalizing
- Size: Typically 3 to 5 feet tall; 2 to 4 feet wide
- Flowering Time: June to September, heaviest in June/July
- Bloom Color: Bright gold yellow with yellow-orange centers
- Habitat: Prairies, open woodlands, roadsides, meadows
- Moisture: Dry to average; well-drained
- Light: Full sun to part sun, best performance in full sun
- Soils: Loamy, sandy, or clay soils; adaptable
- Uses: Pollinator gardens, native meadows, erosion control, cut flowers, mass plantings, butterfly gardens, midground in landscape
Heliopsis helianthoides (Early sunflower)
Heliopsis helianthoides goes by several names, such as Oxeye sunflower, False sunflower, Early sunflower, or Smooth sunflower. It's a bright and cheerful upright perennial that produces large yellow flowers with golden-orange centers. Its flowering period spans an impressively long time, beginning heaviest in early summer (June) and lasting through often into fall (October). This makes it among the longest blooming flowers in our garden.
Despite its many common names, Heliopsis helianthoides is not a true sunflower; its Latin species name helianthoides means “resembling sunflowers”. Regardless, it still serves a similar ecological role by being able to host sunflower-specific specialist pollinators and insects, such as the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly (Chlosyne nycteis).
Early sunflower is adaptable in nature and its great ease of cultivation makes it a favorite among gardeners and restoration practitioners alike. Heliopsis helianthoides is a magnet for pollinators, attracting a wide variety of native bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects, including soldier beetles and parasitic wasps. We've even seen hummingbirds visit the blooms!
Birds such as finches may eat the seeds in late summer and fall. Additionally, the plant hosts a specialised seed bug, the False milkweed bug (Lygaeus turcicus), which feeds on the numerous seeds of Heliopsis helianthoides.
In spite of this, this species produces ample seed and can colonize unaggressively in open garden settings, making it a great naturalizer. Its deep root system contributes to soil stabilization and drought tolerance (after establishment), making it an excellent candidate for meadow restoration, erosion control on slopes, and low-maintenance pollinator habitats. Deer tend to avoid Early sunflower, adding to its resilience in natural and cultivated landscapes.
The species we grow is Heliopsis helianthoides var. helianthoides, the Smooth oxeye that typically occurs most often in the wild east of the Mississippii, and in Virginia.