Maximilian sunflowers have been putting on a show

Here’s your star of the fall wildflower show, standing proud year after year. It’s a perennial sunflower and it grows along Texas roads and highways where travelers – and bees and butterflies – can enjoy it.

Indeed, it is a true sunflower. Helianthus maximiliani grows to 4 to 6 ft. tall, sometimes taller when found in moist ditches. In really favorable settings it establishes dense clumps and puts on a stunning show. The plants in our rural neighborhood are growing out of chalky hillsides, so they’re a bit challenged for water. Their normal blooming height is more like 30 to 40 in.

Its flowers are borne on vertical stems, although with fall rains and winds, they may lean as they age. They come into bloom in late August some years, but generally in September into early October. A lot of it depends on the season and the locale.

If you have a spot in your perennial garden, plant Maximilian sunflowers in full sun at the back of the garden so they won’t block your view of other, shorter flowers. Put it in a place where it can remain undisturbed for years. You won’t need to dig and divide it very often. Just plant it and enjoy it.

As for sources, it is widely sold in local and online nurseries that feature wildflowers and native Texas plants. Both eBay and Etsy have dozens of vendors, and many traditional sources also offer the plant at appropriate times of the year.