Helianthus Species, Maximillian Sunflower, Prairie Sunflower

I can definitely see this plant being invasive. That being said, it grows well in just about any soil, even in moderately low light. I ...Read Morelive on red clay that tends to hold water, and this plant has thrived! I planted 4 plants, and now easily have 75 in four years.

Another topic: Deer Resistance.....not really, they actually tend to love them in the Spring. They eat only the top parts of the plant, most tender. However, this plant adapts by sprouting out 2-3 ways after the top is eaten, so I get more flowers. Once the plant reaches about 3 feet the deer leave them alone completely.

The last thing I noticed: They may attract Carpenter Ants, so be careful. I wouldn't plant them next to your home. I have no real proof other than the fact that the ants have killed one water 50year Maple and one 40 year Black Elm and I have seen Carpenter ant damage before. Coincidence they both rotted at the top of the same hill that I have the flowers? Maybe, but I have seen many Carpenter ants all over the flower stems, net to the trees. When the Elm fell over, it split from the middle and Carpenter ants were everywhere according the tree service.
I actually live next to protected Open-Space near the Delaware and have the problem of planting something that survives deer, will grow in low-light, and in wet, clay soil.

I planted a dozen plugs here and there around the yard early this month and they are already coming up. I want spreading; I want "invasi...Read Moreve", so I have high hopes this native sunflower will fit the bill. We have space to play with and no nearby neighbors who care.

The heads are small compared to mammoth sunflowers, but I have noticed the birds will more readily eat the smaller seeds. Many birds seem to struggle with those rather large seeds. I do not have to plant these every year, so an added bonus.

Adding this info 1 September 2014:

From bare roots, these grew beautifully. The Goldfinch males came and ate at the greens at the base of the newly opened flowers. The heads that already formed seed, these birds have been eating.

As soon as the flowers opened, pollinators galore arrived: honeybees, sweat bees (Nasty name, but so pretty), hover flies and some I have yet to identify.

Mine bloomed early, beginning mid-July and the last flowers are now fading. I inquired with the nursery I bought the roots from and they said they normally bloom in "August and September but of course plants don’t heed our calendar." Soil conditions, sun, rain and other factors can determine when a plant will actually bloom. I have to wonder if it was the watering I did. But because they bloomed early, the early flowers did not get raided by the dreaded Leaf Beetle.

I planted seeds this year with great anticipation. For those who are annoyed with the invasiveness of these plants there is good news: t...Read Morehe roots (or rhizomes) are edible. Wikipedia says that they are similar in taste to jerusalem artichokes. And J. L. Hudson reports, "The thick tubers were eaten by the Sioux and other peoples." So don't get mad, get cooking. Another site says, "The plant’s long flowering period and spreading habit, along with its tendency to form thickets or large colonies, make it ideal for wildlife food and cover. Livestock, especially sheep and goats, readily eat the forage." Plus it attracts butterflies and birds. Looks like a good permaculture candidate.

I am looking for native plants that deer like to eat regularly and naturally, and no, I'm not a hunter. I'm looking for native plants th...Read Moreat deer prefer to eat, in an attempt to distract them from, eating from other gardens grown for human pleasures.

I read that this sunflower is a natural food source for deer, but DG's profile for this plant says it is deer resistant. Now, one of these sources is incorrect. Is there anyone who has grown this sunflower, that can varify if deer like to eat this plant, or not.

Thank you for your help.

I just pulled three long rooted starts easily out of a wet ditch. I notice they were growing in pure red sticky clay, the kind that drie...Read Mores as hard as bricks in summer. The plants were all stick straight and flowering heavily in the country. I am planting mine in the worst, unimproved clay "dirt" on the property line which is about as bad as what I pulled these out of. After reading other comments, I think they will flop in good soil, be invasive and get too tall, perhaps at the expense of blooms?

Great plant in the right place. Grows extremely fast, drought tolerant and puts on quite a show in the weening days of summer! I started ...Read Morewith just a few roots from my mother's garden- now I have divided it several times over a three year period and spread it through-out my garden. Don't use this plant in small gardens...it has the potential to take over. Will self sow and spread through the roots.

After 3 years, a single plug grew to a 2-foot clump that produced over a dozen stems. In rich soil in full sun it grew to 12' high. The s...Read Morehape of the plant was much improved by a mid-season pruning.

This blooms very late in the season here in zone 6b, with the asters and mums.

Further to comment by straea:
Have grown this plant in three different perennial beds (all upgraded clay). I was actually assured ...Read Moreby the nursery that it was not invasive. After two or three year it was advancing through the beds, in one case into the lawn and in another into an ornamental pine. It was so shallow rooted that removing all of it was quite easy. I now use clump-forming Heliopsis helianthoides (false sunflower) cultivars instead.

It was only after I planted this that I first heard about its potentially aggressive tendencies. Guess I didn't do enough research. Reg...Read Moreardless, last year (its first year), planted in early summer from a good-sized but not huge container, it bloomed in a small clump on tall, wiry stems that didn't shade its neighbors as much as one might think from a tall plant. I enjoyed the pretty blooms and then birds enjoyed the seeds. Apparently it was expending most of its energy on its roots last year, because this year it came up in a clump over twice the size of last year's and has been spreading its roots outward over the past two months, sending up new sprouts as it goes. I wouldn't have planted it close to my Oriental poppies if I had known how aggressive it can be (and this is poor, dry soil, not its preferred good soil) and would recommend using it in a spot where its creeping root system would be a benefit rather than a potential drawback. By the way, my garden is very windy and it's in one of the windiest spots of all, and it didn't need staking, though it did tend to tilt its bloom stalks somewhat as it bloomed (which I personally thought added to its charm). I don't know if it adapts to frequently windy sites or what.

Their first year, they grew to about ten feet tall. Problem was they were not bushy so they looked scraggly with blooms only near the top...Read More. Should I pinch them?
Compared to a hybrid named Marc's Apollo growing next to them that was bushy, prolific and bloomed to the end of November, they were kind of sad. One more year of scraggly growth and they get yanked for more Apollos

Perennial sunflowers! Who can resist?

They're great in the late summer/fall. The first season (2001), they grew 6-8 feet b...Read Moreut have been growing progressively smaller each subsequent season. Probably poor soil or something: my soil is heavy-ish clay with little nitrogen, and I don't have the energy to enrich.

They do self-seed vigorously, but the seedlings are easy to identify and pull out. Compared to chinese elm seedlings, these are no sweat.

Zone 8b, Southeast, TX in Broaddus:
In March, I found a 3" tall seedling under my bird feeder. Tom fills bird feeder with sunflowe...Read Morer seeds.
I transplanted seedling to full-sun area in March -06. I placed a 6' tomato cage over it while small. Today, May 23-06 my Maximiliani Sunflower is 5' tall and has one bloom 4" across.

It's a keeper, and free!

Finches love this plant, so I leave a few for them. They blend in with it so well that you really have to look close to see them. As th...Read Moree flowers loose the yellow and turn brown in the fall, so do the finches! They do have a tendency to flop (the plant, not the finches) and seed too freely. Blooms September - October in my garden.

Use Maximaillian sunflower extremely sparingly in new plantings, particularly on good soil. It is very aggressive and will dominate a planting.

Striking plant to have in the garden! Three inch wide blooms stacked one above another on three feet of stalk.

The Maximillian sunflower is really beautiful in the Fall together with golden rod, purple and white asters, and orange butterfly weed.<...Read Morebr /> They do require tying but it is very much worth it.

I was disappointed at first since there were no blooms all summer and the plants became quite large and were shading out some other plant...Read Mores in the same bed. Then in the fall they were covered with six inch blooms when not much else was blooming. I have since moved them to another spot where they will not shade out other plants and there is a fence behind them which I use to tie them up with a string since the heads are very heavy and they tend to fall over. There are so many blooms they are also good for cutting for indoor arrangements in fall colors.

Helianthus maximilianii is sometimes sold as a perennial. I started seed and now have transplanted about 30 seedlings, all of the...Read Morem now (mid-July) 12"+ and growing, vigorous,with long arching leaves. All are clearly related but have the sunflower trait of variations on a common theme.

No flowers have appeared; the catalog described this plant as a kind of flowering hedge. That's what I hope for!

Common Name: Prairie Sunflower