Grow Mexican Sunflowers and attract Monarchs to your garden. Monarch Butterflies are so friendly once they know your garden is a welcome waystation for them. This male landed on the flower I was holding while taking a picture. I let it go just before I snapped this.
Watch the Late Bloomer episode “Growing Mexican Sunflower” (click through to YouTube for HD resolution) and learn why Mexican Sunflower is such a great flower to grow in your garden. This episode specifically deals with Tithonia rotundifolia, or T. rotundifolia, commonly known as “Torch.” Order seeds here.
Monarchs won’t be the only pollinators who will appear. It’s a favorite of hummingbirds. I also spotted the beneficial insect Syrphid Fly. What makes a Syrphid Fly (also known as Hoverfly) a beneficial insect? Its larval form devours aphids!
Low maintenance
Deer resistent
With deadheading, blooming lasts for months
Generally disease-free
Drought-tolerant once established
Widely cultivated, will grow in most hardiness zones
Saving seeds is fun!
Though Monarchs are especially attracted to Mexican Sunflower (did you know they can see the color red?), you will also be visited by other butterflies, and bees love the pollen-packed flower centers.
You can get the Monarch butterfly’s attention with Mexican Sunflower, but Monarchs require milkweed for females to lay eggs on, so you need to be growing milkweed nearby to keep them around (grow milkweed native to your area). In the episode you can see the distinguishing feature of males. Males will visit and sup on milkweed blooms but females are the ones contorting their abdomens to lay eggs on the back of milkweed leaves. Learn more about Mexican Sunflower and Monarchs here. And learn more about planting here.
I hope you enjoy the episode and please subscribe and leave a comment, and most importantly, share “Late Bloomer” with friends.
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