Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Maxed Out

Hmmm.....doesn't look too abnormally large.
That's a pretty normal size of things.
That's a little more on the maximum size.
Bam! Yes, that's maximum. 9-10' Tall! Yes these plants are taller than the stop sign! whoops. They are impressive, however they are a little large and 'weedy' looking for me and for my small piece of property. The plant? Helianthus maximiliani -Maximilian Sunflower. I planted some by seed two years ago in a eastern exposure and the plants stayed pretty confined with late season interest that I enjoyed. This spring many seedlings were popping up every where including these plants which I allowed to grow while removing many more nearby. The size of the plant and texture of the foliage mixed in with the similar foliage of Western Ironweed created a combination that really isn't pleasant to the eye and they bloom so late.
It looks like a glob and most of the foliage has been eaten by lacebugs. So most of these are gone as I write this. I left a colony near the house and one plant on the right.
The blooms are impressive and the bees and ants love them.
This is Kansas you know.
More to come! 

16 comments:

  1. I have these growing in my garden and they tend to fall over when they get so tall. Someone recommended that I cut them back a little in early July to manage their height and it worked! They are still putting out beautiful blooms. After the bees get done pollinating them the goldfinches devour their seeds.

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    1. yes that is a good program to prune, just like asters. I did do that on a few and they were shorter..

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  2. Your photos are a testament to how to beautify a hells strip. It must stop people in their tracks.There was a time when the center median along a nearby road had hundreds of Max. sunflowers int he fall. Then the hwy dept. came in and wiped them all out. It used to be wonderful fall scene which now has nothing. Such a pity. Maybe I should throw a few seeds out there.

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    1. I think they call that Gorilla Gardening Jen. Those seeds are so viable you will have a forest at this time next year. In regards to opinions of people who see the hellstrip, i would say 90% are positive.

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  3. Greggo, I've got these growing in a bed mixed with ornamental grasses; knowing how tall they get, this year I trimmed them off around the time they started to overgrow the grasses; maybe mid-July or so. They stayed at that height (coinciding with the lack of rain?) and now are blooming well and staying more tidy at 5 feet tall instead of 8 feet and sprawling.

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    1. I think these plants "fit" well in a larger garden such as yours along with tall grasses. I like them as they bloom late and are kind of a pollinator magnet along with the asters. However, I think the scale of them in a cluster in my small garden are a little overwhelming. Plus they are loaded up with lace bugs.

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  4. Impressive Greggo! Your little slice of Kansas looks great. The sunflowers don't get anywhere near that tall in my yard. I used to see tall ones along the railroad tracks until they mowed them at the wrong time of year.

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    1. Yes they are impressive this time of year.

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  5. I love those blooms, and actually I think that hellstrip might be the best one I've seen. I like your style! (The Sunflowers might be a bit too tall, but then you can use some for cut flowers, right?)

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  6. It all looks awesome to me! I forgot what the height limit is here for parking strips, but it's 4 feet or less. A few of mine are a little taller than that. Like Karen, there are plants that I trim back so they will be bushier an less tall. There are some plants I haven't done that with before, but plan to next year. Rigid goldenrod is not rigid!

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  7. I'm trying to figure out how close the tallest plants are to the stop sign. In some of the photos, they look closer than others. Is it hard for drivers to see the crosswalk and intersection from the street?

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    1. I try to keep everything below 3' inside a 20' triangle from the corner. That's what code allows. However, I'm going to lower (remove one of the tall Switchgrass) and remodel the corner to a more friendly height.

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  8. Your gardens are beautiful and colorful for fall. I didn't realize how big the Helianthus gets until I saw it at a local arboretum this past September...but it is wonderful! Part of the fun of gardening is watching the garden grow throughout all the seasons and thinking what is next for spring. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with...bet it will be great as always!

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  9. I love Maximilian sunflowers...and agree with Sue that your hellstrip looks fantastic.

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  10. That is great. Love that it's at the corner of Mound Street.

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  11. It all looks wonderful to me. Happy Thanksgiving, Greggo.

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Thanks for leaving any comments, they are always welcomed. Sorry I had to add word verification as spam was becoming a huge problem. Greggo,