Grew this Tithonia from seed - it was worth it -- Monarch butterflies are especially attracted to these bright orange mexican sunflowers.
Monarch on Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower)
Everything is attracted to Mexican Sunflowers! I grew the "Goldfinger" variety with much success. Butterflies love it, bees love it, my dad loves it, my neighbors love it, etc. They're super easy to grow from seed; down here they go from seed to flower in just over two months.
Melanie
I love Tithonias. I had one growing this spring and summer. Now, I have 3 that are just now starting to bloom. Very pretty. : ) Nice picture, Snug. : )
~Lucy
I love Tithonia too! I had a huge multi-branched plant earlier this season and it had red spider mites so bad I pulled it. Hated to do it too.
Maybe next year I'll have better luck with one.
They are easy from seed aren't they? Love em!
Fly_girl... They must be. Some are coming up under my old dead one. I'm gonna save them.
Mine is called Torch. I just read where there are 2 dwarf cultivars 'Goldfinger' that Mellie mentioned and 'Fiesta Del Sol' that grow to about 3 ft. Gotta try those.
I also have one of those huge yellow mexican sunflowers....it is just now putting on buds. Don't know what it is called. It had one flower on it during the middle of the summer, but no more......and now it's getting alot of buds. : )
Lucy, I think the yellow ones are called Tithonia too, Becky sent me some cuttings and they really took off. I hope they make it through the winter.
My orange ones were close to 5' tall, and the branches were about 1" in diameter, they were huge! The only drawback with the big ones is they are fragile. The branches will get so heavy they'll split. So, I have to stake and tie them a lot! And it's challenging with those big black bumblebees that love them, but well worth it.
Yes, I noticed they are kinda fragile myself. I have to cut the old buds off to keep them blooming, because if I try to pull them off, sometimes I break a branch.
Plus, I noticed the dog rub up against one the other day and broke a bottom limb. It's still blooming tho...on the ground. : )
I remember the stems are kind of hollow.
Is this the yellow one? I think this is the ones Becky gave me.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59827/
Yep, that looks like it. : )