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Genus

Helianthus

The Helianthus genus in the Plotwright catalog - 3 species: Common sunflower, Sunchoke, Swamp sunflower. Open any for hardiness, native range, wildlife value, and growing guidance.

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Moderate water

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Annual

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Close-up of a common sunflower head with yellow ray flowers and a dark central disc.

Helianthus annuus

Common sunflower

A fast annual for sunny edible, pollinator, and children-friendly beds with bold summer flowers and seedheads.

Sunchoke (Helianthus tuberosus) showing bright-yellow ray flowers with a darker yellow disk on tall reddish stems with ovate serrate leaves against a pale sky.

Helianthus tuberosus

A tall, tuber-forming perennial sunflower native to eastern North America - also called Jerusalem artichoke or sunroot - grown both for its 2-4 inch bright-yellow late-summer sunflowers and its knobby edible underground tubers. Rough-hairy stems rise 6 to 10 feet bearing ovate, serrate leaves on winged petioles. It spreads aggressively by rhizome and self-seeding to form colonies; Missouri Botanical Garden flatly calls it "weedy and invasive" and difficult to remove once planted.

Full sun / Part sun / Part shade

Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius) showing dense crown of golden-yellow ray flowers.

Helianthus angustifolius

Swamp sunflower

A tall native eastern + southeastern US perennial sunflower producing dense crowns of golden-yellow ray flowers in early to mid fall - one of the latest-blooming + most spectacular natives for fall color. Tolerates wet feet; among the best perennials for rain gardens + sunny moist meadows. Critical late-season nectar for migrating monarchs + other Lep.

Consistent moisture