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Height: 8-10 ft. (2.4-3 m) 10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m) 12-15 ft. (3.6-4.7 m)
Spacing: 18-24 in. (45-60 cm)
Hardiness: Not Applicable
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
Danger: N/A
Bloom Color: Bright Yellow
Bloom Time: Mid Summer Late Summer/Early Fall
Foliage: Herbaceous
Other details: This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwater Self-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season This plant is resistant to deer
Soil pH requirements: 6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic) 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral) 7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline) 7.9 to 8.5 (alkaline)
Patent Information: Non-patented
Propagation Methods: From seed; sow indoors before last frost From seed; direct sow after last frost
This was my second season planting "Kong". Awesome! Some I let grow to over 10ft tall, others I kept trimmed -4ft (the leaves grew -4ft but the flowers grew above the fence about 1-2ft. Two way different looks from the same plant. I'll have to buy more seeds for next year as the squirrels totally destroy the flowers as soon as the have anything close to seeds. These will be on my property always. Guests from 3 or 4 properties away can be heard saying how awesome they are as they can be seen towering above any fence. The massive leaves make for great privacy.
On Feb 23, 2007, zville123 from Zanesville, OH (Zone 6a) wrote:
I agree with the previous post. My husband and I were blown away by this sunflower and we've grown other sunflowers before. We plan to grow Kong every year from now on. I just wish we had had a digital camera last summer to photograph the monster. The neighbors were in awe of it LOL! This year we plan to share the seeds we managed to save (from the squirrels and birds) with the neighborhood. Should be interesting!
This thing is a monster. It is a perfect sunflower for a summer hedge or sunflower house. The leaves can grow to 18 inches across and 2 feet long. One stem had a diameter of 5 inches at the end of the year when I cut it down. Most were closer to 2 or 3, but some were massive. The height for mine was typically 12 feet. The first main flower will be 18 to 24 inches wide.
The seed is big and plump. It seems to be a favorite of birds and squirrels, though, as they eat it before Early Russian or Giganteus. If you have a young child, I would highly, highly recommend growing this variety. The sheer height, size of stem and leaf size is amazing. It won't get as tall as other giants but it will produce multiple flowers and be very bushy with its leaves making perfect sunflower houses. This is by far my favorite giant sunflower, and I highly recommend that anyone try growing one or two once just to be amazed by what you can get out of a seed in one summer and total neglect. = )
Regional...
This plant has been said to grow in the following regions:
Phoenix, Arizona Denver, Colorado Divernon, Illinois Los Alamos, New Mexico North Zanesville, Ohio Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
One vendor has this plant for sale.
