My Corner Online
Heliopsis helianthoides 'Sommersonne' or 'Summer Sun' | False Sunflower | Ox-eye Daisy | Rough Heliopsis
The family is Asteraceae (Pronounced ass-ter-AY-see-eye ) which is daisies and sunflowers.
(Pronounced He-lee-OP-sis) (a Greek word for "helios" meaning "sun" and "opsis" meaning "like", or "sun-eye")
(Pronounced hel-ih-anth-OH-deez) (meaning like a sunflower)
I moved this plant from my son's yard before his home sold (10/25/2018) and we just love the cheerful yellow-gold blooms that go on all summer long. It makes a great cut flower as well. Because it came from our son's yard and we did not know the name, my husband started calling it the "Jaron flower." The plant is about 3 feet high and spreads about 2 to 2 1/2 feet wide. If I allow it to fall over, the next flowers shoot up from the horizontal branches and the plant is much shorter.
I had trouble identifying the plant and even social media groups had trouble, so it was suggested to me to contact the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Information Services. They indicated to me "I believe the plant is a cultivar of Heliopsis. Common names include false sunflower and ox-eye. I am unsure about the cultivar, but it may be a double form of 'Summer Sun'."
I have learned that the flowers are semi-double flowers . This caused me to learn about double flowers because I found a very similar single flower Heliopsis helianthoides in my garden as well. A double flower is one that has double the petals. A semi-double has extra petals, but the center of the flower can still be seen. I noted that I can see the deep orange-yellow centers, so this is a semi-double bloom! My single False Sunflower has 13 petals so a double would have 26 petals.
The below photos were taken when I filmed the video on July 26, 2023.
The bug that was on the plant while I was filming is a Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus equestris). It was also on the Heliopsis helianthoides | False Sunflower | Ox-eye Daisy | Mock Sunflower (59) which was in the back yard. I like that you can see the leaf well in this photo so you can tell what they look like.
The below photos were taken July 4, 2023.
Some volunteer balsam intertwined with the Summer Sun that I had transplanted in the back yard. In the front yard I prop the plant up against an old iron fence and in the back yard I let it fall over and sprawl and it gets new flowers growing upward on the horizontal branches. Each is a totally different look.
2021
The below photos were taken July 27, 2018, probably as I was moving them to the yard.
