Sunflowers
Modern sunflowers are much more than one huge yellow flower on a tall stalk.
Many new varieties have been developed. Flowers range from two-colored
or banded, to chestnut red or pale yellow.
Multi-branched varieties form a quick, annual screen. Dwarf types are
suitable for planters and low borders. Cut flower varieties won't drop
pollen on table linens.
Moon-walker, an annual, blooms with several pale yellow flowers on top
of eight-foot branching stalks. This variety is a good living privacy screen.
Dwarf varieties include Music Box, a branching, two-and-one-half foot
tall plant. Music Box produces four-inch flowers in yellow to gold including
two-colored blooms. Big Smile grows only one-and-one-half feet tall and
produces one, five-inch golden yellow bloom with a brown center. It's a
perfect sunflower for containers and flower beds. Other new three-foot
dwarfs include teddy bear and Floristan.
Silverleaf, one of the tall sunflower varieties, has silver-green foliage
and long lasting, yellow flowers with brown centers. Velvet Queen, another
tall sunflower, blooms in burgundy, chestnut-red, mahogany and warm bronze.
Sunrich Lemon and Sunrich Orange grow to five feet and don't shed messy
pollen when cut for arrangements.
There are perennial sunflowers, too. Flore Pleno and Lodden Gold produce
double four-inch, yellow blossoms on five-foot plants. They're great as
a vertical garden accent.
All sunflowers do best in full sun and grow in a wide range of soils.
Avoid high nitrogen soil which encourages plant growth but fewer blooms.
Sunflowers can be planted when day and night temperatures are above 50
degrees Fahrenheit. Sunflowers should be watered deeply but infrequently
to encourage deep roots and strong stems.
SUNFLOWERS - HARVESTING
Sunflower seeds are ripe when they all fall off the head, or the birds
start eating them. To prevent loss, cover the heads with a paper sack once
the yellow petals start turning brown. Secure the sack with a rubber band
or twist tie to prevent seeds from dropping.
Heads can also be cut and placed in a paper sack once a few seeds start
turning the traditional black with white stripes. The flavor will not be
as good as those ripened on the plant, but less loss will occur.
SUNFLOWERS - PREVENTING BIRDS
The only way to prevent birds from eating sunflower seeds is to cover the
seeds with either netting or a paper sack. The sack should be loosely tied
with rubber bands or twist ties around the stalk.
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