Helenium is a very easy plant to grow. It has good hardiness, tolerates a wide range of conditions and has few problems from diseases or pests.
Positioning
Like other Heleniums, 'Chelsey' likes to grow in a sunny spot, which will encourage it to flower abundantly.
Although its preference is for moist soil, it will still perform well in most conditions, except for very dry ones.
Resist the temptation of planting 'Chelsey' in a shady spot just because the soil is damper there - sunlight is important! The best solution for dry soil is to add humus to it which will ensure it retains moisture.
Staking
'Chelsey' doesn't grow as tall as many other Heleniums and has strong stems. It therefore is unlikely to require staking unless growing in a very windy position.
Flower colours
Flowers in different stages on on the same plant show different color shades: very young flowers are red with yellow; more mature flowers are dark red and old flowers are red with orange and yellow. The less light exposure an individual flower has, the higher the proportion of yellow its petals will show. This means that flowers developing on stems lower down the plant are likely to have more yellow in them.
Pinching
If you wish to keep the plants shorter and have them flowering later, you can do this by pinching out the stems.
The best time to do this is April or May, as pinching after mid-May might prevent the flowers developing altogether!
As the plant matures
At the end of the season the plants die back, but new shoots will have grown out of the old stem, forming little rosettes. The following spring these will grow, forming a bushier plant than in the previous year.
After a few years, the plant may have grown into a large clump of rosettes and this can be divided to make a few separate plants. To do this, simply break up the clump into a few pieces, each with their own root system.
The best time to do this is in Spring, when the plants start to grow, as if it is done in the Autumn, some of the newly divided plants may not survive the winter.
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