Inula helenium
Elecampane
Common names: Horse-heal, Elfdock
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 60 cm, rows 80 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Sowing
- Mar, Apr, Sep
- Harvest
- Oct–Nov
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −25 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Karelj · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Description
Inula helenium, known as elecampane, is a robust perennial herb in the Asteraceae family. It grows 1.5 to 2 meters tall, producing large, bright yellow flower heads from July to September. The plant is valued as a traditional medicinal herb, a valuable forage for bees, and attracts many solitary bees and bumblebees. Its thick taproot makes it drought‑tolerant once established. Due to its size, it requires ample space and a location where it can remain for several years.
Care instructions
Plant in a sunny to partially shaded spot with loose, fertile soil, preferably in spring after mid‑April (week 16) or in autumn after September (week 37). Keep a spacing of 60 to 80 cm between plants to allow full growth. Water young plants regularly until well established; thereafter the plant tolerates drier periods. In late autumn, cut stems close to the ground when foliage wilts to protect against winter rot. The taproot can be dug up in the autumn of the second or third year when it is most robust.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–Apr, Sep
HarvestOct–Nov
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 5 °C, ideally 12 °C
- Days to sprout
- 21 to 60 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, moist, nutrient-rich, lime-loving
Elecampane feels happiest in a deep, humus-rich, rather fresh to moist soil, just like its natural sites on damp meadows and along stream and ditch edges. The soil may well be nutrient-rich and should not dry out permanently, even in summer. It tolerates some lime in the soil well. Only avoid pure stagnant waterlogging with no movement; here the strong roots easily rot.
Feeding
Medium feeder
As a vigorous wild perennial, elecampane gets along well with basic feeding. One dose of mature compost around the plant in spring covers its needs over the season. If you overdo the nutrients, it grows soft and fattened rather than strong.
Overwintering
Elecampane is hardy and withdraws quite naturally in autumn. In late autumn you can cut the above-ground parts back close to the ground and leave them lying over the root as a loose mulch layer. In spring the strong root reliably sprouts again.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
The easiest way is to divide established clumps in spring or autumn and replant the pieces straight away. Sowing also works well; the seeds are cold-stratification seeds and germinate more reliably after a few weeks of cold outdoors or in the fridge. Young plants from sowing need a little patience until they flower at full size in the second or third year.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Elecampane yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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