Mexican Sunflower
Tithonia rotundifolia. ASTERACEAE (COMPOSITAE).
Planting and Growing Mexican Sunflower
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow Mexican sunflower in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of Mexican sunflower
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for Mexican sunflower
- Season of bloom and planting time for Mexican sunflower
- When, how deep, and where to plant Mexican sunflower
- How to plant Mexican sunflower
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of Mexican sunflower
- Landscape and container uses of Mexican sunflower
- Comments about Mexican sunflower and its features
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Growing Mexican Sunflower
Several cultivars of erect, narrow annual herbs to 6 ft. (1.8 m) tall, 3–4 ft. (90–120 cm) wide. Alternate, shiny, deep green, oval, 3-lobed leaves, to 1 ft. (30 cm) long.
Common cultivars include Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Aztec Sun’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Sundance’, and ‘Torch’.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many showy, bright gold, orange, yellow, round, daisylike flowers, to 3 in. (75 mm) wide, in branching clusters, in summer–autumn.
Best Climates
Plant as tender annual, zones 3–11; self-seeding, zones 9–10. Best in hot-summer climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist to damp, well-drained soil. Fertility: Average–low. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun, 2 ft. (60 cm) apart, after frost hazard has passed. Start seed indoors 6–8 weeks before final frost for early blooms; transplant when frost hazard has passed.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist until established; drought tolerant thereafter. Avoid fertilizing. Stake. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, screens in arid, meadow, wildlife gardens. Good for cutting; sear stems to close before placing in arrangement. Attracts birds, butterflies, hummingbirds. Heat tolerant. Pest and disease resistant.