Heliopsis

It grows in a wide variety of conditions and soils from water edges to meadows to hot, dry sites, and tolerating average to clay soils. In dry conditions, give it deep soakings every few weeks so it doesn’t dry out too much.

If it’s watered too much, or in a high water situation, it may get too tall and flop over. To prevent this, you may cut back the stems halfway in the early stages of its growth and before any buds form. This will encourage thicker, bushier, shorter growth. Or simply stake the stems up.

As mentioned earlier, deadhead the flowers to keep the bloom going longer. But also, these plants are strong self-sowers! So when you’re done cutting the flowers, like when your other yellow flowers are taking your attention, you may want to let the seeds develop because the birds will like them. But keep in mind that there will be many seedlings next year, which is really great if you want more plants.

These are said to be deer resistant. I have no first-hand experience with these, and, of course, it depends on your deer and other factors. But since the species is a wild meadow flower, it’s well worth a try. The plant is native to North American prairies and meadows, so deer may be eating only the young plants in the wild.

Plants in several varieties are available for purchase. The plant forms a clump and can be divided after a few years. But they are also very easy to start by seed. Or you can buy one plant and let it go to seed, and you’ll end up with lots of plants.