‘Loraine Sunshine’ False Sunflower © 2011 Bo Mackison

I always thought this flower in my garden was a sunflower. Now I find out, while doing a bit of research for blog writing, that it is not a true sunflower, but a false sunflower. It is a good thing a flower’s beauty is not in its name, but in its looks. Botanically speaking, a sunflower has green leaves, while this flower has green and white variegated leaves. Hence the false label.

Variegated © 2011 Bo Mackison

It is a ‘Loraine Sunshine’ heliopsis and when I was in the nursery picking out replacement stock for a few spaces in my garden, one of the reasons I chose this flower was because of its deep yellow color. A second reason was because of its unusual foliage.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is enjoying the backyard garden this year, especially since plentiful rains are keeping everything green and growing.