I know many gardeners shy away from yellow. Purples and blues are chic, refined, and ‘educated’. Yellows and oranges are brash, vulgar and mass-market. Isn’t that how the mantra goes? No such pretention here. In one area of the garden ‘Mammoth’ sunflowers tower above Inula ‘Goliath’ (no mean feat), which themselves dwarf a perennial Helenianthus decapetalus and Inula hookeri while yellow and orange Nasturtiums scramble about underneath.

These golden yellows are summer-in-a-bottle, cheering and heartwarming. So, a golden summer feast follows. For the yellow-phobic, look away now.
The images are:
1. A gorgeous clear yellow Helenium – probably Kanaria
2.Helenium ‘Sahins Early Flowerer’
3.Helianthus decapetalus – or a related variety
4.Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’ with a wonderful green fractal patterned cone
5.Helianthus ‘Monarch’
6.Telekia speciosa. It’s proving a bit tricky to work out how Telekias differ from Inulas as a genus. Any suggestions most welcome.




August 15, 2007