Like all sneezeweeds, Helenium 'Gartensonne' is perfectly hardy, loves full sun and lasts a long time as a cut flower for arrangements.

Daisies are often disparaged as common, blatant and aggressive. It's true they aren't the most subtle or refined of plants, but few flowers look better come late summer. These buoyant and sturdy plants, in all their familiar shades of yellow, rust and gold (as well as white, lavender, pink and purple) can carry the garden through the dog days of August into September.

A daisy-shaped flower, with its open face, central disc and ray of petals is instantly recognizable, but what really do we mean by daisies?

Daisies belong to the largest family of flowering plants on Earth, made up of 1,500 genera and 23,000 different species, many native to North America.

Helenium (sneezeweed), rudbeckia, echinacea (purple coneflower), asters, chrysanthemums and helianthus are the ones we most often grow in our gardens. Most are straightforward in their needs, and easy to cultivate. Many are dependably hardy, herbaceous perennials and some are annuals; nearly all prefer sunshine and reasonably well-draining soil. Such daisies as achillea, centaurea, coreopsis and helichrysum species and cultivars are drought tolerant. Some members of the daisy family prefer heavier, moisture-retentive soil, including ligularia, rudbeckia, eupatorium and helenium.

And all those different plants aren't even the surprising members of the daisy clan. Even dahlias, ornamental thistles, the various silvery artemisias and cardoons are part of the extended family. But for that true yellow/gold, cheerful daisy look, consider growing at least some of the following (none of which have the shasta daisy's unpleasantly musty odor, so are safe to bring inside for arrangements).

Now In Bloom Sundrops (Oenethera fruticosa) bloom for most of the summer on red-tinged stems that seem too delicate for the wide, cupped blossoms. The flowers are lightly fragrant and come in shades of pale to deep yellow. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil, where they spread about a good amount without crowding out their neighbors.

• Sunflowers: The quintessential wide-headed, hairy-stemmed sunflower is an annual, grown easily from seed, but there are perennial versions. This year, I'm growing the fat, fluffy Helianthus annus 'Sun King' and H. annus 'Autumn Beauty' for its mahogany-tinged petals. I also have a back corner devoted to the perennial Helianthus 'Lemon Queen,' a smaller-flowered, paler daisy that grows 6 feet high with long-blooming flowers on widely spreading branches. The willow-leafed sunflower (H. salicifolius) is also a perennial, notable for its drought tolerance, distinctive drooping foliage, and golden-yellow flowers.

• Sneezeweed is another one of those perfectly lovely and useful plants with an off-putting common name. Heleniums supposedly sprung from soil watered by the tears of Helen of Troy (which is odd for American natives, but daisies have an old and mixed-up nomenclature, as do so many plants). The petals of the flowers reflex back, giving an interesting profile, but what I really love are the array of colors from gold through deepest, richest orange-red.

• Rudbeckias are handsome with their brown centers and bright yellow-gold petals. Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta) has a variety of cultivars ranging from 8 inches high to more than 3 feet. R. hirta 'Rustic Dwarfs' come in shades of yellow, bronze and red, while in 'Sonora' the brown center color extends onto the petals, forming a wide ring of rich, dark chocolate.

• Inulas are tall, commanding plants that display the full glory of the daisy experience. I. magnifica grows to 7 feet tall with wide leaves and stout stems topped with dozens of multi-rayed yellow flowers in midsummer. I've heard that these were the sunflowers Van Gogh painted, and if his goal was to capture the essence of daisies, inulas would be the perfect choice.

To learn more, take a look at the excellent new book "The Plantfinder's Guide to Daisies," by John Sutton (Timber Press, 2001). It has many color photos and a thorough explanation of all the various daisy relatives and their uses in the garden.

Valerie Easton is a horticultural librarian and writes about plants and gardens for Pacific Northwest magazine. She is the co-author of "Artists in Their Gardens" from Sasquatch Books. Her e-mail address is vjeaston@aol.com.