2-3" wide sunflowers with golden yellow to primrose yellow ray petals and yellow disc flowers are produced in summer to fall singly and in few-flowered clusters atop short sturdy stems attracting bees, butterflies, and other garden beneficials. The Hairy Sunflower, Helianthus hirsutus, is one of the smaller growing Sunflower species whose sturdy stems are adorned with opposite, lanceolate, rough feeling, deep green foliage and the leaf pairs sit at 90o to those above or below. In its native habitat, this is a 2-4' high, rhizomatous, colonizing, herbaceous, winter deciduous perennial that is typically found locally in dryish, sandy to loamy, well-drained soils in the Pineywoods but is found throughout much of the central and eastern US into Canada and northern Mexico. In rich fertile soils it is reported to grow as high as 5-7' and it may be at its best where it can be allowed to naturalize as in meadows, prairies, forest edges, and roadside plantings. The Hairy Sunflower is utilized as a caterpillar food source for the Painted Lady, Gorgone and Silvery Checkerspot butterflies, as well as some moth species. The flowers are an important nectar and pollen source for a variety of native bee species including both long and short-tongued bees. The ripened seeds are utilized by a variety of birds including Quail as well as small mammals. Item# 12634
Grows To: 2-4'(-7')H and slowly spreading
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun