Athena Gold® is a very compact false sunflower with sunny yellow blooms that are packed with petals, so each flower lasts a long time. It flowers from midsummer into late summer on a bushy plant under two feet tall.
Use it at the front or middle of a border, in combination containers or as a cut flower. Butterflies and bees visit it often.
What it looks like
Daisy-like flowers about 2½ to 3 inches across, packed with several rows of bright sunny yellow petals around a small golden-orange center. Flowers are held in good numbers on branched stems just above the foliage. Leaves are glossy, deep green, triangular and coarsely toothed. The plant is a compact, bushy clump 18 to 24 inches tall and 16 to 20 inches wide. At peak bloom it is capped with a dense layer of bright yellow flowers.
Growing it with lavender
Its bright yellow flowers complement purple lavender, and its small size suits the front of a sunny lavender border.
Care
Plant in full sun to light shade in average, well-drained soil; it handles heat and some drought once established. Hardy in zones 3 to 9. Deadhead to extend the bloom season.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Heliopsis helianthoides
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Flower color: Sunny yellow
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Foliage: Glossy deep green
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Growth habit: Compact, bushy clump
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Mature size: 18–24 in tall × 16–20 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Early-July
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Peak bloom: Late-July
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
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Pollinator value: Great
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
