Marching to Tithonia

Too little, too late!

I get super excited to hear about a fantastic annual that is a butterfly magnet! The name rolls off flower gardener lips with giddy delight. “My tithonia…tithonia..tithonia….sigh”

They share their photos with as much glee and love as a new grand baby, lol!

What I have learned is just how large it gets and how long it takes to reach blooming stage!

I have started these indoor from seed and I've direct sowed seeds but it seems to take most of the growing season for them to finally send up even one bloom!

These photos are from 2022. I had some in the front yard that faces south and the backyard, near Josh's Arches. Those also had lots of southern sun exposure.

Maybe they didn’t get enough sun where they were. Maybe I need to buy them as plants in 2024. I'll try again and see what happens!