I’m happy to call this perennial by its proper name, Helenium, rather than by its common name, Sneezeweed, as someone had requested in the Comments section a few weeks back. Let’s remove the negative connotation, shall we? We’re all sneezing and suffering enough with allergies this fine autumn season that we don’t need another reminder of the struggle.

Although fun story: the name sneezeweed comes from the fact that the leaves were used in ancient times to make snuff tobacco which the paranoid people inhaled to force themselves to “sneeze” and ward off evil spirits. I’d have used it back then too. I’m a ward-off-the-spirits kind of guy.

The flowers are fading but it’s still making an impact in the garden as we hit mid-October. I’d given up on Helenium years ago as I couldn’t get it to remain upright even when I cut it back in the summer to try and manage its height.

But, as we gardeners all know, the harder we try the worse off we are. We get too involved and we mess it all up. Leave a plant like Helenium to its own devices, and boom, it finds a way to thrive. As it reseeds throughout my garden now, I make a formal note in my garden spreadsheet to “stay the f away” and let it be on its own.

And that continues to work.

Your garden lesson for today.