Western Sunflower

This compact-growing, native perennial sunflower blooms for many weeks flowers beginning in late summer, attracting a wide variety of pollinators and later, seed-eating songbirds to its seed heads. Native to the eastern half of the US, the flowering plants only reach 3 to 4 feet in height. Spreading by rhizomes (horizontal growing roots), the plants will form large colonies, so give it room to expand. Growing in a wide range of soil types and climates, this wildflower makes a wonderful low-maintenance cottage garden or meadow/prairie plant. It’s also useful on slopes to hold the soil. Western Sunflowers makes a great companion for Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea), and many native ornamental grasses like ‘Blonde Ambition’ Blue Grama Grass (Bouteloua gracilis) and Prairie Switchgrass (Panicum).