Today I had to remove my once-beautiful tithonia rotundiflora from the front yard flower bed. It is hard for me at this time of year to get rid of plants that have given me so much pleasure over the summer and through the fall. This is an annual plant, also called the mexican sunflower or torch plant. It was well worth the buck I spent on the packet of seeds. I had never grown it before and the picture on the seed packet captured 
my attention. The seeds were slow to germinate so I was pleased to have 3 or 4 plants make it to adulthood. They grew to almost 6 feet tall and attracted lots of bees and butterflies. I hope the mailman enjoyed them as they created a lovely backdrop to the mailbox.
In an earlier posting I called them lithonia, but I found the remains of the seed packet and saw that I had mis-remembered their name. I always leave a seed packet or tag in the ground when I plant something new. When I cleared away the stalks, I left a bunch of seed pods in the soil to see if anything will come up next year. 
It is supposed to get cold this week so soon the nasturtiums will need to be removed. I couldn't bear to rip those up just yet. I did remove some dried hydrangeas and cut down some of the large branches remaining of the defunct rhododendron. I don't know what happened to it, but it put on a spectacular show this spring. Maybe that wor
e it out. I won't dig it up just yet; I am hoping for a spring rejuvenation. Please enjoy the tithonia rotundiflora one more time.
my attention. The seeds were slow to germinate so I was pleased to have 3 or 4 plants make it to adulthood. They grew to almost 6 feet tall and attracted lots of bees and butterflies. I hope the mailman enjoyed them as they created a lovely backdrop to the mailbox.
In an earlier posting I called them lithonia, but I found the remains of the seed packet and saw that I had mis-remembered their name. I always leave a seed packet or tag in the ground when I plant something new. When I cleared away the stalks, I left a bunch of seed pods in the soil to see if anything will come up next year. 
It is supposed to get cold this week so soon the nasturtiums will need to be removed. I couldn't bear to rip those up just yet. I did remove some dried hydrangeas and cut down some of the large branches remaining of the defunct rhododendron. I don't know what happened to it, but it put on a spectacular show this spring. Maybe that wor
e it out. I won't dig it up just yet; I am hoping for a spring rejuvenation. Please enjoy the tithonia rotundiflora one more time.
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