Mexican Sunflower - a love-hate relationship

Mexican Sunflower (tithonia fruticosa) is one of my favorite desert plants.  It has a commanding presence in the summer garden with its tall leggy stems, large green leaves and bright yellow sunflowers.  A profuse bloomer when watered, it attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.  Birds also love to eat the spent dry flowers, so be sure to dead head them and leave on the ground.   But, in winter, Mexican Sunflower is not a pleasant sight to behold.  It no longer flowers and the large leaves turn wrinkled and brown. If it is a featured plant, like my two were, it becomes a blight on your winter garden.

 

So, last winter, I dug up one of them, divided the clump, and planted two pieces in an area that would become a back drop to my oasis garden.  I didn't have the heart to dig up the other one, so I severly pruned it back and waited for new, fresher growth in the summer.  Well, even after much attention the clumps never produced.  So I began calling the various nurserys in town only to learn Desert Survivors was the only one who carried the tithonia fruticosa variety.  Unfortunately their plants were still in the greenhouse and wouldn't be ready until fall.   I had to wait.

Then, one morning when watering I noticed a very small plant growing among a patch of salvia leucantha that looked like Mexican Sunflower.  A seed must have been carried by a bird or blown over and dropped there.  I gently dug it out and planted it in the hole that previously housed the clump and surrounded it with chicken wire.  It grew!  A miracle according to some who told me you can't transplant Mexican Sunflower.  I will be diligent in my efforts to keep it healthy until next summer when I am hoping it will shoot upwards and blossom.

The 1/2 inch wire mesh cages I described in my last post have worked well in protecting one of my raised vegetable beds from small critters.  The handles work great, making them easy to lift off the bed while I water and putz about.                               

So right now life is good.  I'll keep you posted. 

Chicken Wire, Boulders and Drip Irrigation

Here are two of my beds one year later. The chicken wire was attached to rebar and wood stakes to keep the rabbits out. Note that there are rubber protectors on top of the rebar to protect against someone falling on one and impalling themselves. Not much you can do about Javalina as they can jump easily over the fence. My mixture of dirt to compost is one to three (one part compost, two part dirt). The mesquites came from 5 gallon pots and were placed in holes twice as deep as the 18"bed. Plants used included salvia leucantha, salvia greggi, ruelia, mexican sunflower, casia and mexican primrose and many other desert varieties. Desert Survivors Nursery on West 22nd St. near A Mountain is wonderful place to purchase plants. They grow their plants on site, a big plus since your plant will have had plenty of time to acclimate to Tucson's climate. I also recommend using rocks and boulders in your beds. They give your garden texture and provide a natural setting for plants. Boulders also shelter roots from the hot sun.

I've used drip irrigation throughout my landscape. You can see the black hose on top of the bed in the photo. In most cases I leave the main hose above ground to allow easy access. You can now purchase emitters that allow variable water flow - a great invention! Each plant type will require a little more or a little less water than another plant type and with adjustible flow emitters you can now fine tune the plant's watering needs. Drip is a very easy and effective way to water your garden while conserving Tucson's precious water.