Berkheya ‘Helios’

Thanks to Trish and Peter Kohn, we have the rare and very special plant, Berkheya ‘Helios’growing in the South African bed in Osborn’s Field (Area J on the downloadable map). The large, strong yellow flowers contrast strikingly with the spiny grey foliage.

An interesting article in the latest edition of the RHS journal The Plant Review reported that the plant was likely found in the south-eastern Drakensberg close to the border with Lesotho by the late and much lamented Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in 1997.

71 of the 75 species of Berkheya in the Asteraceae family are to be found in South Africa; the parentage of the hybrid B. ‘Helios’ is probably B. macrocephala and B. multijuga. In his last catalogue in 2016 Michael Wickenden offered the first few plants for sale with the description ‘the best Berkheya in cultivation, the flowers are 5 inches across and freely produced in summer with greyish cobwebby spiny leaves, often semi evergreen’. The Kohns obtained one for the Botanical Gardens.