Mexican Sunflower

Back in April I visited my friend Loren Zeldin's garden. I saw this amazing plant that was about 4' tall and had vibrant orange Daisy flowers. He told me it was Tithonia rotundifolia. It sounds just like it's spelled. Directly after I left his house I stopped at Green Arrow Nursery and was surprised to find that they had seeds of this plant! I had never seen nor heard of this plant and was so happy to find it!

Tithonia is an annual from the Aster family that grows 4-6' tall. It likes full sun and blooms summer to fall. Bees, butterflies and birds are said to be attracted to it. It's a good cut flower and will reseed if not deadheaded.

At home I planted all the seeds in 4" pots to get them started. Of course all of them germinated. I set out 3 plants in my vegetable beds in the backyard and 3 in the front yard. I gave some to the Iris Society and sold some at the SoCal Horticultural Society meeting.

This week they began blooming. How fabulous and brilliantly orange the flowers are! Yay for Tithonia! Do you have space for this giant annual in your garden?