Tithonia rotundifolia

Tithonia rotundifolia. Ornamental annual for cut flowers and pollinator gardens. Baker Creek’s founder, Jere Gettle, found this growing along mountain roadsides in central Mexico; sometimes called the Golden Flower of the Aztecs. Single, daisy-like heads, brilliant red-orange with a golden-yellow center, about 3 in. across, held upright on hollow stalks that thicken just below the head. Tall, bushy, well-branched plants with stout, hairy stems and large, velvety, dark green leaves. Plants about 5 ft tall. Blooms heavily from midsummer until frost. Seeds dark gray to black, narrow and wedge-shaped, about 1/4 in. long. 75–90 days to maturity. Heat- and drought-tolerant; not frost hardy. Attracts monarchs and other butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.