Flaming orange flowers always catch my eye and the old-fashioned Mexican sunflower is still one of the best. They are probably catching your eye as well wherever you drive or commute in Central Texas. There may be a revival happening with this plant that I have failed to notice.
I belong to some Facebook groups dedicated to butterflies and pollinators and it appears the Mexican sunflowers are bringing them all across the country. It really did my heart good to see so many people growing this flower that I have not even hardly thought about since Fiesta del Sol was chosen as an All-America Selections winner in 2000, 19 years ago.
The Mexican Sunflower is known botanically as Tithonia rotundifolia and is indeed from Mexico and South America. Fiesta del Sol is a truly compact version that did very well in our trials with Mississippi State University. We had it planted with the Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha and the large African marigolds which are really from Mexico too.
