Maximilian Sunflower

Helianthus maximiliani

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Maximilian Sunflower is a perennial native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 10 ft tall. It wants full sun or part shade and low to medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms yellow and brown in Aug–Nov. Good for birds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Tall upright stems lined with yellow sunflowers along their length in early fall.

Why it works here

Spectacular vertical fall color and a serious seed source for birds.

Watch out

Gets six to eight feet tall and flops without support or a midsummer cutback. Spreads at the root.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Perennial
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low to medium
Height: 10 ft
Spread: Spreads into a colony
Bloom: Aug–Nov · yellow, brown
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, dry, limestone, loam, sand, well drained
Deer: Low — deer eat it; cage or plant where they cannot reach. Browsed hard — often eaten to the ground before it can bloom.
Wildlife: Supports birds

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

1,873 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.