u/Hailfog

It should be the easiest showy wildflower ever. Annual, no cold stratification needed, drought tolerant, won't be sprayed/pulled because it "fits" the aesthetic. You see it thriving beautifully in big dense plantings on every roadside.

And man does it germinate and grow quickly for me! ....and then it gets massive, and flops, and has two pitiful tiny blooms.

I thought it was just me, and then I saw the same flower in other people's gardens doing the same thing. Yet on a Texas prairie or on a roadside planting, it looks great. WHAT is the issue? Has anyone done this better?