Cosmic Whisper

I am not really sure that Cosmic Whisper deserves  a blog all to itself it being nothing more than a tall yellow daisy, but it has given me such pleasure over the last two or three weeks that I could not resist writing about it.  Yellow daisies are in fact rather common at this time of year. Essentially there are two families - the rudbeckias and the helianthus. I guess that the rudbeckias, or coneflowers, are the slightly more elegant, their flowers rather less orange, which for some people will be a plus. They are also tall , perhaps reaching two meters where the soil suits, with not unattractive foliage, at which point I perhaps should stress that I am writing about R. laciniata and R. nitida, there being many other species, including those we treat as annuals, flowering for the most part earlier in the season. I grow R.Herbstsonne and R.Juligold, both bought along with Cosmic Whispers from the indispensable Bernard Lacrouts who says that they are varieties of R.laciniata but there seems to be some disagreement about this. It is too early for me to give a proper assessment. This was their first summer with me and both found the secheresse difficult. There is mention of them needing moist soil to do  well so this is a worry, but in my view this summer was slightly exceptional so I am still hopeful that they will thrive.

As for the helianthus I should perhaps begin by quoting Graham Stuart Thomas who stated that he could not 'write about them with any enthusiasm. Their large daisy flowers are of a brilliant yellow, their leaves coarse and rough, the taller varieties have running roots and need staking'. Donc . . !  In fact perhaps the most commonly planted H.Lemon Queen, which I see has got an RHS Award of Merit, has, as the name suggests, rather pale yellow flowers.  I am not in fact a great fan finding the flowers just a bit too dull - if you are going to go yellow why not go the whole hog, especially where there is bright sunshine - but clearly it pleases a lot of people. Its roots are quite invasive, but because they spread just under the surface of the soil they are quite easy to pull up.  Perhaps slightly less easy are the roots of H.tuberosus, none other than the Jerusalem artichoke, or in French topinambour. Its flowers are pretty ordinary but they make a nice splash of yellow, and after they are over you can make soup with the roots !

I am not sure how invasive the roots of H.Cosmic Whispers are, though for the moment it looks as if they are not going to be a problem. Even without flowers the plant is quite impressive, so much so, and having lost its label, I wondered what on earth it was, but of course the flowers are the chief feature.  They appear in great quantity, of a bright, clear yellow,and seemingly over a longish period, but where they differ is in the formation of their petals. These are slightly elongated giving them touch of elegance lacking in their 'cousins'.

So if you cope with yellow daisies go for Cosmic Whispers, which along with most of the above, seems to me to go very well with the tall Michaelmas daisies mostly in blues and reds with a touch of purple which are one of the great glories of the autumn scene, and incidentally all much loved by the late butterflies. Meanwhile the autumn pyrotechnics are under way, though this year rather diminished by the lack of rain. As a vital part of this scene can I yet again strongly recommend two trees, Pistacia chinensis and Pyrus Chanticleer.neither are in my view sufficiently well known in this area which is why I go on about them. The pear has the advantage of abundant spring flowers, both have amazing autumn colour, the pear's leaves turning particularly late which helps to prolong the autumn show. But perhaps most important of all both seem unaffected by our dry hot summers. One could hardly ask for more.

P.S. I should have mentioned that Lacrouts sells nine diffierent varieties of helianthus including H. Guillick's Variety which he refers to as the 'le soleil classique'