Follow the Sun
When we bought our home, the backyard was a blank canvas. To get a sense for how the sun moved across our garden, the first cultivated plant were large headed sunflowers, similar to the one’s made famous by ‘Van Gogh’. I carefully tracked and recorded the turning heads throughout the day and summer season. Sunflowers exhibit heliotropism in the bud stage. Heliotropism causes the flower heads to follow the sun from east to west during the day. At night they return to face east. As the bud stage wanes, the stem stiffens. Sunflowers in their blooming stage lose their heliotropic capacity. The stem becomes “frozen”, in an eastward orientation. Before planting expensive specimen trees, shrubs and perennials – plotting the course of the sun – saved oodles of time, money and labor.

Sowing (Helianthus annuus) Seeds
Sunflowers are carefree annuals that love the sun. Plant seeds directly in the ground. By planting in three week cycles from late May to mid-July, you can enjoy a long succession of blooms for your tabletop. Sunflowers are heavy feeders. Use a slow release granular fertilizer when planting. Osmocote® pearled fertilizer works well for container varieties. A weekly fish food diet for all sunflowers will ensure tall, strong canes.

Maintenance Tips
1. Protect young seedlings from birds, snails and slugs.
2. Keep container sunflowers well-watered.
3. Fertilize plants regularly every week.
4. Avoid watering when summer winds blow hard.
History
Francisco Pizarro was the first European to encounter the sunflower in Peru. Native Incas worshipped its image as a symbol of the sun god. At the beginning of the 16th century, gold figures of this flower as well as seeds were transported to Spain in the early 16th century. The sunflower is native to the Americas and was first domesticated in Mexico. The earliest known fully domesticated sunflower north of Mexico was found in Tennessee and date to 2300 BC. The plants were named Helianthus from the Greek words ‘sun’ and ‘flower’.

Uses
• Cut flowers.
• Seeds for snacking.
• Bird food (microwave for 10 seconds to sterilize).
• Leave seed heads on stalks to attract song birds and beneficial insects to your garden.
• Tracking the sun for a new garden.
• If your growing space is limited, grow annual flowering vines around stalks to get a second season of blooms.
• Sunflowers are a great way to get children interested in gardening. Since the seeds are large, little fingers and a pencil can push directly into the ground.

Harvesting Seeds
Sunflowers are prolific seed makers. The variety ‘Snack Seed’ sunflower produces edible seeds. Seeds are fiber-rich and have a nutty flavor. Harvesting sunflower seeds for eating is great fun.

To protect seed heads from hungry birds, cover heads with mesh onion bag. When the ripened seeds develop a hard shell, harvest the seeds by cutting the stalk at the base. Remove by hand by rubbing the seed head into a basket. Store seeds in plastic containers.

Sample Varieties to Try
Sunflowers have long tap roots, so it is best to sow them directly into the ground. Thin the seeds when they reach 3” tall. Colorful varieties to mix in a planting bed together are ‘Cinnamon Sun’ and ‘Valentine’. Both sunflowers reach 5’-7’ tall. The dark centers or ‘eyes’ of the blushing yellow ‘Valentine’ are offset by the burnished ruddy brown petals of ’Cinnamon Sun’.

Containers
I planted dwarf ‘Junior’ in the Solexx® panel covered greenhouse in terra cotta plastic containers. Newer varieties are being developed as pollen-free hybrids to eliminate messy pollen drop and for longer vase life. Smaller sunflowers are great to edge a summer vegetable garden, flower bed or used in pretty containers.

Feedback
Have you had any experience with growing sunflowers in your garden or greenhouse? I would love to hear your experience and comments!

Garden photos taken by Dawn Hummel. Sunflower photos provided by Renee’s Garden.