Great plant, I have several around the perimeter of yard, in fact a vase of the flowers on the dining room table as I type this. (my daughters are in the "decorating" from the yard stage...) It is a perennial here in central Florida at the very least. Even the hurricanes and frezes have not bothered them much. They can be pruned hard and the cuttings literally stuck in the ground to grow.
I have never seen butterflies on mine but lots of bees (which is great). They also have a wonderful smell...like honey.

I just gathered some seeds on a canal and will be planting some .My last one was lovely but drowned during a wet season so I will put these elsewhere.Is there a smaller version?

There is an annual version and a perennial version. I grow the annual. The flowers are orange and it attracts TONS of butterflies. I've tried to grow the perennial version, which has bigger yellow flowers with a honey scent. The perennial was too big for my little garden though.

Bill

Wow, sounds like I'm going to be happy with them. The seed package listed them as annuals by the name of Torch.

Bill, Torch is supposed to grow to about 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide so they will probably be too big for the spot I planted them.

Goldenpond, There are supposed to be two dwarf varieties, Goldfinger and Fiesta Del Sol. If I'm happy with this batch then I'll try the smaller ones next year.

floridays, Did you plant yours from seed?

mboston, Umm squirrels. My miniature schnauzer, Bismarck, loves to chase them. He's never caught one but he thinks he's a great hunter anyway :-)

Thanks and have a great night!
Annette

I've never had Mexican sunflower last more than one season, and I've grown them lots of times. Torch, for one, but several others, too. It's been my experience that they all go to seed and die at the end of summer. But they are still well worth it.

Now sunflower TREE, which is also a tithonia, is definitely a perennial. It can get 12 to 15 feet tall in a season, and you can cut it back to 3' and it will be back in no time.

For me, tithonias are wonderful plants. I recommend any of them, but don't plant the sunflower tree unless you have lots and lots of room for it.

Marcia

...the smaller one is different, mine is the "tree" form or Tithonia diversifolia. The torch variety of Tithonia rotundiflora looks like a great annual.

I have Tithonia diversifolia. I got a cutting from Cindeea in January 08. Here's a picture I took a week or so ago. I really like the looks of it. To repeat what others said, to propagate all you need to do is to cut a stalk and put it in the ground. I've been sharing with neighbors and I'm going to put another one in back of firecracker plant and in front of my neighbors areca palm. I hope it lasts through the summer. It's large. Old leaves die off and have to be physically stripped from the plant. No thorns!

My tree varieties have grown to be giants - as tall as the power lines that run over head by the road . They have always bloomed in October or November but are beginning to bloom now . Strange . I'm not sure you could kill these even if you wanted to .
My cows adore them and keep the plants by the pasture fences trimmed . The plants still bloom . These plants are almost close to invasive except that any that are planted are my own fault . I had NO idea they would become such giants . They get bigger every year .
They certainly are a show stopper when they all bloom . I think I have about 25 planted along the roadway and fences and you can see their bright yellow blooms for miles away . If you need a cutting - I have a few tons available !

gatormom, mine is blooming now, too. I think it is the hot, dry weather or something. They normally bloom in the fall for me, as well, but just when I wanted to cut mine back, I discovered it was covered in blooms. My neighbor sometimes gets a better view of them than I do when it is so tall. They have a two story house and their bedroom window looks down on the sunflower tree.

And, I think the sunflower tree tithonia IS invasive in south Florida. But in central Florida, it dies back enough each year that it doesn't seem to spread like that. Yet. Maybe one day, we'll be worrying about it here, too. But for now, I just love mine, and I always want to have at least one in the yard. They ARE show stoppers.

Marcia

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm going to stay away from the tree type. They sound way too much for my little yard.

Marcia, did you collect the seeds to replant?

If my annuals do good I'll take some photo's and post them.

Thanks again,
Annette