Torch Tithonia Butterfly Flower Seeds

Torch Tithonia earns its name with blazing red-orange flowers held high above velvety, branching stems. The 3–4-inch blooms turn a 4–6-foot planting into a midsummer beacon for monarchs, swallowtails, hummingbirds, and every gardener who loves fearless color.

Also called Mexican sunflower, this vigorous Central American annual makes a quick seasonal screen or a brilliant back-of-border companion for zinnias. Once established, it meets heat and dry weather with cheerful resilience.

• Botanical name: Tithonia rotundifolia
• Cultivar: Torch
• Life cycle: Annual
• Exposure: Full sun
• Sowing: Direct sow after frost or start indoors 4–5 weeks early
• Planting depth: 1/2 in.
• Germination: 7–10 days
• Mature height: 4–6 ft.
• Final spacing: 10–12 in.
• Approximate seed count: 55–60

Give the branching plants room and harvest flowers regularly for a long procession of fiery stems. Find more bold pollinator favorites in our flower seed packets.