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Plant · P-349
Pale-Leaved Sunflower
Helianthus strumosus
Pale-Leaved Sunflower is a tall, spreading perennial that blooms yellow through the hottest stretch of summer, right when most other flowering plants for pollinators have finished for the year - and it is specifically flagged as valuable to native bees. It tolerates real shade, unlike most sunflowers, and actually prefers dry ground over wet, holding through a rainless summer without irrigation. It spreads by running roots into a colony rather than staying put, and deer and rabbits mostly leave it alone, so it earns its keep on an unfenced margin where little else survives.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–8
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–7 ft
- Mature spread
- 18–24 in
- Plant spacing
- 20–24 in
- Root type
- Rhizome
- Spread pattern
- Root
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
Herbaceous · USDA 3–11
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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