Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, Orange, Annual, 4" pot
Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, Variety Torch
Annual, native to Mexico and Central America., FS, medium moisture, shelter from strong winds, blooms July - September, 5’ x 2.5’.
Right off the bat I want to say that we LOVE Mexican sunflowers. Why? Well, because they’re beautiful, they’re prodigious and because of their abundant nectar, they’re a magnet for butterflies and other insects. This magnificent plant is native to Mexico and Central America. It’s a vigorous annual that typically grows in a single season to 4-6’ tall. Showy sunflowers, to 3” across, with orange to orange-red rays and orange-yellow disks bloom from mid-summer to late fall, sometimes until the first frost.
In general, it’s a warm weather annual that’s easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. They grow from seed to bloom in about 60 days. Last season we planted several successions of Mexican sunflowers (even the seedlings we put in the ground in early-August grew to produce blooms) to keep the nectar flowing for migrating Monarch butterflies, and wow, did they come! The two groupings of around 10 plants each attracted so many Monarchs that for weeks people came from all over to witness the phenomenon. Almost everyone said they never saw such a profusion of Monarchs and other butterflies.
This season we’re going to plant at least five times as many Mexican sunflowers and want to popularize them to the extent that someday before long, we will see them and butterflies everywhere. With this in mind, we hope that you’ll consider having a few Mexican sunflowers adorn your landscape. This season we’ll have the typical red flowering one plus a shorter yellow variety. Plant at least 2-3’ apart, stake them when they grow larger, and deadhead spent flowers to prolong bloom period.
Attracts Monarchs and many kinds of pollinating insects, plus Hummingbirds and Clearwing Hummingbird moths which feed on the nectar. Allowing some blossoms to go to seed will attract Goldfinches and different species of sparrows, which relish the seeds.