tithonia/mexican sunflower

piegirl · August 13, 2008

wow is all I can say. Grew this many years ago and it was impressive. Didn't have enough sun, etc. An absolute butterfly magnet, about 6-7 foot. Will this reseed or if I save seeds, will they come true? I know there is a yellow version but this is the red-orange. Today four different kinds of butterflies were feeding, now I am waiting for the humming birds to find the flowers. Piegirl

dice · August 14, 2008

I let a row of several of these in a parking strip go to seed
one year. None grew there the next year. I saved seeds, but
I never ended up planting them again (I did not have
another spot with both enough space for a plant that size
and enough sun for that plant), so I don't know if they were
fertile.

Note that we don't have sharply defined seasons here, which
affects a lot of plants that a need a definite
winter-spring-summer transition to sprout on their own and
survive. Birds or squirrels may have eaten the seeds in the fall,
too.

August 13, 2008	#1
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	tithonia/mexican sunflower wow is all I can say. Grew this many years ago and it was impressive. Didn't have enough sun, etc. An absolute butterfly magnet, about 6-7 foot. Will this reseed or if I save seeds, will they come true? I know there is a yellow version but this is the red-orange. Today four different kinds of butterflies were feeding, now I am waiting for the humming birds to find the flowers. Piegirl

August 14, 2008	#2
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I let a row of several of these in a parking strip go to seed one year. None grew there the next year. I saved seeds, but I never ended up planting them again (I did not have another spot with both enough space for a plant that size and enough sun for that plant), so I don't know if they were fertile. Note that we don't have sharply defined seasons here, which affects a lot of plants that a need a definite winter-spring-summer transition to sprout on their own and survive. Birds or squirrels may have eaten the seeds in the fall, too. __________________ -- alias