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Undaunted® Lemon Max Maximilian's Sunflower

Helianthus x 'Lemon Max'

$18.99
$18.99 $0.00
per Plant - 5" Deep Pot
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ZONES  4-8 | Good to grow! Zone
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Helianthus maximiliana 'Undaunted® Lemon Max' (Perennial Sunflower) is a sensational bloomer with an explosion of huge, clear yellow August daisies. A big strapping plant, give Lemon Max plenty of room to grow. Well-suited to any type of soil, including clay. Well suited to habitat gardens--birds will relish the seeds and native bees are fond of the nectar-rich sunflowers. Discovered by Lauren Ogden in her Ft. Collins garden.
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Description

4-5 feet tall x 4-5 feet wide. Helianthus maximiliana 'Undaunted® Lemon Max' (Perennial Sunflower) is a sensational bloomer with an explosion of huge, clear yellow daisies in August. A big strapping plant to about 5 ft. in height and of equal girth, give ‘Lemon Max’ plenty of room to grow; it's especially well-suited to meadows and habitat gardens. While at home in any soil type, the plant loves clay. Birds will relish the seeds and the native bees are especially fond of these nectar-rich sunflowers. A garden hybrid discovered by Lauren Springer Ogden in her Fort Collins garden. (Cutting propagated.)

Planting & Care

Tips On Growing Helianthus (Sunflower)

Helianthus (Sunflower) are showy late summer/early fall blooming native wildflowers that are deer and rabbit resistant. There are both annual and perennials sunflower varieties.

Preferred growing conditions:

  • Both annual and perennial Sunflower varieties grow easily in all types of soil including clay.
  • Plant in full, hot sun.
  • Sunflowers do not need to be mulched, but when planted in a garden with other plants that are mulched, they amenable to most common types of mulch including crushed gravel in xeriscapes.
  • Perennials like Helianthus maximiliana and its hybrids are xeric (waterwise). After becoming well established by their second growing season they do best with deep but infrequent watering. Too much water makes them tall and floppy; it’s best to grow them on the dry side.
  • Annual types need regular irrigation when there has been no rain.
  • Perennial types just need a few handfuls of compost and Yum Yum Mix in the planting hole to get them off to a good start.
  • Annual types benefit from more extensive soil preparation and will grow more vigorously when the soil has rototilled or dug to a depth of 8 to 12 inches and enriched with ample compost and Yum Yum Mix.

Special comments:

  • Undaunted® Lemon Max hybrid perennial sunflower sets a lot of seed. If re-seeding is not desirable, it should be deadheaded shortly after blooming has finished to reduce the number of volunteer seedlings.
  • Maximilian sunflower varieties are very vigorous growers that spread via underground roots. They should not be planted in flower beds with good soil as they will crowd out their neighbors; they are best planted in poor soil sites along fences, empty walls and other peripheral areas where their large size is an advantage.
  • Sunflower seeds are a favorite food of many songbirds, so don't deadhead the plants after blooming.

Garden Care:

  • Leave perennial plants standing over the winter and cut them back hard to a height of 1-2" in early to mid-spring.
  • Perennial varieties are easily divided in the spring to propagate additional plants or keep them in bounds if they grow too wide.
  • The seed of annual varieties should be planted when the soil begins to warm up in late spring. Sow seeds at the same time when planting corn in your area.

Shipping

As soon as your order is placed you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Some perennials are shipped as potted plants, some as perennial roots packed in peat.  The ‘Plant Information’ section describes how that item will ship. All perennials and fall-planted bulbs are packaged to withstand shipping and are fully-guaranteed. Please open upon receipt and follow the instructions included.

Perennials and fall-planted bulbs are shipped at the proper planting time for your Growing Zone. Perennial and fall-planted bulb orders will arrive separately from seeds. If your order requires more than one shipment and all items are shipping to the same address, there is no additional shipping charge. See our shipping information page for approximate ship dates and more detailed information. If you have any questions, please call Customer Service at (801) 769-0300 or contact us by email or chat.

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Key Features

Light Requirements

  • Full Sun

Water Tolerance

Low-Water

Bloom Time

Early summer to fall

Advantages

  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Attracts Birds
  • Native
  • Mass Plantings
  • Naturalizes
  • Easy To Grow
  • Low Maintenance
  • Cut Flowers
  • Deer Resistant
  • Rabbit Resistant

Additional information

Mature Height

4-5 ft. tall

Mature Spread

48-60" wide (4-5 feet)

Soil Type

  • Average Soil
  • Sandy Soil
  • Clay Soil
  • Compost Enriched Garden Loam Soil

Soil Moisture

  • Waterwise

Planting Time

  • Spring / Summer

Native To

North America

Growing Zones

  • Zone 4
  • Zone 5
  • Zone 6
  • Zone 7
  • Zone 8

Ships As

Potted Plant

Can Send To PO Box

No

Ships to Hawaii & Alaska

No

Overall rating: 4.7777777 / 5 from 9 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: ["plant","freeze","growing"].

Review highlights

Reviews

So far so good. Arrived healthy and seem to be growing well.

"I ordered three of these and one arrived a little sketchy. But it recovered nicely. Plants were a little smaller than expected."

— KP (4/5)

Everything is growing well. Except the yarrow. It died.

"All the plants have new geowth. The yarrow is the only thing that died."

— Miranda (5/5)

A reason to smile

"I didn't know it was possible for a plant to get as large and put out as many blooms as these have. I planted three of these on April 30, and after a few weeks I thought they had all withered away and died. But by July, they were sprouting new growth from the crown becoming bushy, and by August they began profusely blooming. At any time of day, the flowers are swarming with every kind of pollinator. When I need to smile, I just sit and stare at these magnificent gifts. They live in a raised terrace, and I hope that they spread as aggressively as others suggest."

— Ryan (5/5)

Hardy Helianthus - Bee Bonanza!

"These small plants survived an unexpected hard freeze shortly after being planted. While many of our other new plantings did not survive this cold snap, these plants not only survived, but thrived in their first year of planting. We are so impressed with how rapidly they grew and started blooming. The bees absolutely love them and we are excited to see them expand. At 6500ft, you never know whether new plantings will be winners - but these definitely are!"

— Sskelch (5/5)

Awesome!

"The last flowers of the year in my yard. Very showy, hardy and huge."

— Koko (5/5)

It really does get huge!

"I bought 3 of these. The one I kept for myself had a tough start - twice it was chomped all the way back to the soil by chipmunks. Each time, new shoots came up, so I finally smartened up and surrounded the new growth with fencing. By the end of the summer, the plant was kind of spindly and thin, but 5 feet tall. This year I am hoping for better results, since I will protect it from our hungry chipmunks. I gave the other 2 to my 2 sisters, and theirs were HUGE. They had to transplant them to a new location because they were too large for the spots they had chosen."

— Panama (4/5)

Remarkable

"Grew to 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide in the first summer! Covered with blooms."

— Curt (5/5)

Hardy, Unusual Plant

"Planted this in early spring in an area with all day, hot sun. They did well, and bloomed profusely at the end of the summer. Local deer and rabbits were uninterested in it."

— Nick (5/5)

Long lasting later Summer/ early Fall color

"Grew large and healthy very quickly. Perfect for my permaculture edible yard. I have read the roots are edible -will have to research."

— Robin (5/5)

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