Wonderful pics, mxk3 and FrozeBudd!!

Although I have and love Tuscan Sun (indeed, I replaced all of my rudbeckia goldsturm with it!), I am not familiar with Venus and I’m loving what I’m seeing so far! I’ll be on the lookout for that one for sure.

Lovemycorgi, with blooms up to 5 inches across, 'Venus' is in a bit of a category of it's own, staking advised with this one, but worth throwing a large tomato cage over as it emerges in spring. 'Tuscan Sun' I just picked up about a week ago.

Oops, I screwed up -- they're heliopsis, not helianthus {blush}, I changed the post title.

I have not found that "Venus" need staking. Not yet, anyway.

Love these!

I’m just now seeing the beauty of yellows. Soft yellows were my past preference, but now....the brighter the better!

Not sure why it took me so long?

Lovenycorgi...curious what didn’t you like about your BES? I ask because I recently planted some.

@GardenHo_MI_Z5, I found goldsturm to be too vigorous a spreader for my tastes; I am still removing unwanted seedlings. Also, Tuscan Sun is similar in color, but has a much longer bloom time; it starts blooming in mid June, and will still be pushing out blooms here and there until late September. For me, only Rozanne geranium has a longer bloom time.

Good to know thank you. Are the unwanted BES easy to pull?

Tuscan sun sounds wonderful, curious if it requires constant deadheading to keep it blooming so long?

Grief...not a single yellow daisy can survive my dry climate. I have various early anthemis but without intensive irrigation, all those golden blooms of late summer are just not tenable. Dahlias and chrysanthemums might be alright...but I have nothing in gold/yellow/bronze spectrum. I am in a gardening transition though, changing to a more natural landscape without irrigation, so think this time of year is going to be a fairly restrained evergreen of myrtles, sages, lavenders with none of those lovely tall perennials I adore.

This year has been anomalous - no rain since March, then one night of rain and nothing more forecast for the coming couple of weeks. Truly a disaster in the east of the UK...but even in wetter years, the drier half of the country cannot sustain any of those US natives.

@GardenHo_MI_Z5, yep, they’re easy to pull, though not as easy as monarda. They’ll still keep blooming even without deadheading, but removing the spent blooms certainly keeps them looking tidier. Here’s one of mine that I have not deadheaded. Each individual bloom lasts a very long time!

Thank you lmc....beautiful pic!

I was slow to get on with yellows because when I think of yellow, the first thing that comes to mind is the phenomenal amount of dandelions that grow here, I'm not the only one who has said that, lol ... and white and snow is synonymous! LOL.

FB maybe that was what took me so long also...dandelions and...school busses!

I did a roadside dig for these ’woodland sunflowers’? a couple years ago... I think I may regret planting these? Bloom time about 2 mos. and very tall.

@GardenHo_MI_Z5, I *think* those are native to Michigan, I have them on the edges of the woodland areas of my property. They’re very lovely and certainly brighten things up!

Yes a native for sure and I agree they are lovely! Just worried they will take over the gardens lol. I have them in a partial shaded corner of a bed and they seem quite happy!

Have you had any pop up in your gardens? How far away are they?

Here are my wild helianthus (I think!). They’ve always stayed in my woodland areas, and have never popped up in any of my gardens, though the closest is probably over 100 ft away.

Last week, to my horror, I discovered purple loosestrife growing outside of my vegetable garden fence. A neighbor must have it in their garden, or perhaps a bird ”dropped” a seed. I pulled and bagged it and set it out in the trash.

It appears we have two different ones. Yours have wider leaves and have more toothed edges. Possibly much shorter? Mine are approx 5 ft.

another pic

What a scary discovery for you...I would have done the same thing! I saw some back awhile ago just down the road from me in the shady ditches. Then recently I see its creeping in closer near the woody areas. Im hoping that being in a dryer full sun area, that they wont come my way.....

Interesting, mine are only about 3 ft tall, so definitely different than yours…I wonder if they are a heliopsis then? I have no idea. Mine grow mostly in shade, though, so I thought they were woodland sunflowers.

Regarding the purple loosestrife, I think maybe they’ll grow anywhere? The one I pulled was in full sun, but yeah, it’s in all the shady ditches near me. A few miles from me is a house that has a very large purple loosestrife in the center of their grassy front yard, all alone, as if it’s being showcased for all to admire. They probably don’t know it’s an invasive…

There are several varieties so who knows? Name that plant forum perhaps..

Yikes if they only knew....although Ive seen posters here say they grow it and are sure to deadhead it.

I’m can say....l’m nervous about it. It’s getting alittle too close for comfort. It is pretty, but no thank you! If it’s creeps in any closer I will definitely keep a sharp eye out....