I had some a couple of years ago. Some company sent it as a bonus when i ordered seeds from them. I liked it too and was thinking that i should have grown it again this year. Next year, i guess. :)

I'll have to try growing Sanvitalia in a container next year. A few years ago I grew several plants in front of a border, they do fill out quite nicely.

Sharon

Hi everyone,
I have a ? I planted these for the first time, and I love them. I have read that they are perennials in zones 9. Has anyone ever overwinter these. If not can these be propagated by cuttings? Or to collect seeds, the flower heads are so small how do you tell what is a seed. Thank you!

Hi Sue. I only know the answer to your last question, since I have collected some seed, although it will be until next spring whether I've done it correctly, and stored them correctly, or whether they are even viable.

I went down to the bottom of the flowering stems and looked for a dried up old bloom. Plucked it, pulled out the fluff in the center, and on the bottom of the fluff or contained within the sepal, I would find little green seeds (this is why they may not be viable, my seeds were still green, I thought most seeds turns darker brown/black).

Now I went out today, and notice quite a few older blooms that are dried out, but the sepal is still a healthy green, and when I pull out the centre fluff, there are no seeds. So I assume they weren't correctly pollinated, maybe because it is later in the year - although I think I've got 10 times the bees buzzing through the garden then I did in spring and summer.

Good luck finding seed, or researching on it.

kioni

Here is a link that might be useful: Parts of a flower

Last year, in a garden bed in our town, we included Sanvitallia and it was lovely. This year we did a different planting consisting of purple amaranthus and coral petunias which looked lovely all summer. And now, as a bonus, the whole bed has volunteer Sanvitallia thru it, blooming like mad, and the petunias flowers kind of float amongst the Sanvitallia. It looks great, LOL, almost like it was planned that way. A great plant and the seeds are certainly winter hardy so a good candidate for winter sowing. I've never grown it at home but I'm so impressed with how it looks in the town bed that I think I might start growing it, and by that I mean scatter some seed and let it do as it pleases.

Thanks everyone for the input. I gathered what I think are seeds and will give it a shot. But if i can't grow my own I will for sure buy more. We got hit will a pretty heavy frost last nite and they are still going strong.