Bidens mitis (Coastal Plain Tickseed Sunflower, Florida Sunflower)

Description

3′ tall Reseeding Annual is covered with yellow flowers  from September to November. Songbirds eat the seeds.  Numerous secies of bees, wasps, flower flies, butterflies, skippers and beetles are attracted to the flowers. Some of the wasps and flower flies are beneficial feeding on garden pests.  It is a larval host of the Dainty Sulphur Butterfly and numerous numerous moths. The abundance of caterpillars make the plants attractive hunting grounds for mother birds. The seeds are eaten by small mammals and birds including Bobwhites, Sparrows and Purple Fince s. Plant in full sun or light shade in average to wet soil. They often grow in Brackish Marshes. They tolerate some salinity. They become much bushier if pinched while growing.  They are native to AL, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, SC, TX, and VA. We propagated our plants from a native population in Jasper Co., SC.