Buy Mexican sunflower Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch': Delivery by Waitrose Garden

Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch'

Mexican sunflower

Mexican sunflower

Position: full sun
Soil: well-drained, moderately fertile soil
Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
Hardiness: half-hardy annual

An erect, branching annual with rounded, lobed leaves and bright orange to scarlet flowerheads, that burn brightly from midsummer until the nights begin to draw in. ‘Torch’ is a great hot border companion for dahlias, achilleas helenium, and is a ‘cut-and-come-again’ variety that benefits from staking.
Growing instructions: For early season colour sow under glass onto moist well-drained seed compost and cover lightly. Seedlings, which appear shortly, can be potted up and left to grow for several more weeks, hardening off before planting out with a 50cm spacing once frosts are passed.

Alternatively, sow directly outside once frosts are passed in a well-prepared bed with plenty of incorporated organic matter. Germination can take 7-21 days. Thin to 50cm spacing and stake if the garden is particularly open or exposed. Deadhead to encourage branching and longer displays.
Sow: March to April (under glass) or May to July (direct)
Flowering: July to October