In late summer or early fall, you may spot a glimmer of yellow against a sky-blue backdrop. Stems hum in the soft breeze. You round the corner to see golden-yellow flowers waterfall over a fence.
You stop and take in the simple beauty of the swamp sunflower. Helianthus angustifolius is commonly known as the narrow-leaf sunflower or swamp sunflower. This perennial species is native to the Southeast and coastal areas as far north as New York.
Because of its tolerance of salt and love of water, it thrives in bogs, wetlands and swamps. The flowers are smaller than the annual sunflower, but it has a much longer blooming season. Its golden-yellow blooms regale you late summer through fall.
The blooms are like a daisy, measure 2 to 3 inches wide and have yellow-black eyes. The leaves are dark green with a rough, burgundy stalk. It may grow as tall as 10 feet, but its height can be controlled.
Marion Deane Drummond, the executive director of Mobile Botanical Gardens from 2002-09, shared her gardening wisdom on swamp sunflowers with Nita Crandall. Nita said Marion was adamant that on the Fourth of July, before a firecracker was lit or a bottle rocket launched, you were to cut back your “swamps” to knee height. This stunts them from growing into the heavens.
I choose to ignore this advice, but at times have had my swamps fall victim to being too tall. The heaviness of the blooms may cause the stalks to fall. But even if that happens, it is a beautiful sight to see those abundant ye.