With bright blooms that go from mid-summer to early fall, sunflowers say “summer” like no other plant. Our Sunflower Growing Guide covers everything from planting to cutting flowers to harvesting seeds!
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant with a large daisy-like flower face. Its scientific name comes from the Greek words helios (“sun”) and anthos (“flower”). The flowers come in many colors (yellow, red, orange, maroon, brown) but they are commonly bright yellow with brown centers that ripen into heavy heads filled with seeds.
Here and yonder, high and low,
Goldenrod and sunflowers glow.
–Robert Kelley Weeks (1840–76)
How Long Do Sunflowers Take to Bloom?
A fairly fast-growing flower, most sunflower varieties mature in only 85 to 95 days. The largest sunflower varieties grow to over 16 feet in height, while smaller varieties have been developed for small spaces and containers and rarely grow larger than a foot tall! The flower heads can can reach over 12 inches in diameter within the large seeded varieties.
Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means that they turn their flowers to follow the movement of the Sun across the sky east to west, and then returns at night to face the east, ready again for the morning sun. Heliotropism happens during the earlier stages before the flower grows heavy with seeds.
Very few plants are as heat-tolerant, resistant to pests, and simply beautiful. Sunflowers make excellent cut flowers and many are attractive to bees and birds.
At the end of the season, it’s easy to harvest sunflower seeds for a tasty snack or for replanting (see instructions below). Learn more about why you should start growing these happy flowers in your garden.
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Sunflower seedlings
I have never grown anything from seedlings . I bought your sunflower seeds and little pods. I now have 18 little sprouts and they are wonderful. Now I do not know what to do with them. The weather is cold, rain and even some snow. Please teach me. Thank you :) Heidi
protect your sunflowers
Good to hear of your success. If you are at risk of cold and snow, you must be a northern area that has not passed it last-frost day. (Put your zip code in the slot on this page and see when your last-frost date is: http://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/zipcode/03444)
At this point, it’s important that you protect your seedlings from the cold and snow. One way is to prop newspaper on top of them—not touching them, but above them and supported in such a way that the newspaper, if wet (or worse, snow laden), will not crush the seedlings. Replace as necessary and, when the cold spell passes and the temps are more suitable, remove the paper and let the seedlings get stronger. Watch the weather forecast here regularly —http://www.almanac.com/weather/forecast/zipcode/03444 —and be prepared to protect the seedlings at any time until your area is safely past the threat of frost, snow, or cold.
Take care of your plants and they will be good to you!
sunflower cultivation
Please provide me details of sunflower planting, cultivation, ideal time of planting, good seed from where to procure etc.
sunflowers
And amazing and exceptionally wonderful article on growing sunflowers.
Information was so thorough and helpful.
Thank you
sunflowers
I planted 30 sunflowers and now they are 3 inches tall! I am 12 yrs old and i love to garden. I sell all the plants that i grow, and i make like 40$ off of like 2 plants!!
suitable soil for sunflower
In which type of soil does sunflower give maximum yield...?? Does it grows in red soil..??
growing sunflowers
i love to grow sunflowers in my backyard.
I grew some sun flowers this
I grew some sun flowers this year and harvested the seeds because I am wanting to replant them next year. I am wondering how should I store them? And I am also wondering about the wild sunflowers you see next to the road, is there a way to harvest those seeds and replant them?
Like any seeds, keep them in
Like any seeds, keep them in a cool dry place until you repalnt them in the spring. Make sure it is also rodent-proof because mice love to eat these seeds. Not sure what you mean by wild sunflowers but everything is owned by someone so be sure to have the permission from the landowner before you harvest any seeds from "wild" plants. Watch the plants until they start to dry and then harvest the seeds or cut a few stalks to dry at home.
I PLANTED TWO ROWS OF MAMMOTH
I PLANTED TWO ROWS OF MAMMOTH SUNFLOWERS THAT GREW GREAT. A FEW OF THESE TO ABOUT 10-12', HOWEVER NONE OF THE PLANTS FLOWERED? ANY IDEAS?
When did you plant your
When did you plant your seeds? I also planted a few mammoth the end of May and the first one just recently bloomed. Hopefully my others bloom soon. I believe they have a 75 day maturity. I hope this helps you a little.
Well, you've got the growth,
Well, you've got the growth, so they must be reasonably happy where they are. We think that they got/are getting too little phosphorus. Did you test you soil? Did you fertilize, especially without having tested the soil? A test may have revealed a nutrient balance that fertilizer could have fixed, in the proper mixture.
Basic plant fertilizer mix usually consists of nitrogen (N, and the first "number" in the row of three numbers), phosphorus (P), and potassium (k).
Nitrogen helps plants grow quickly and have abundant foliage.
Phosphorus helps roots to be healthy and helps blooms to set.
Potassium aids in overall plant health.
It's probably too late in season to fertilize now. Get your soil tested early next season, before you plant. Often, local cooperative extension services do this, but you can also buy kits at garder and nursery stores.
I am from Ohio and also
I am from Ohio and also planted the mammoth sunflowers around May 27th, for the 1st time ever. Around 75 plants. We were getting worried that they weren't going to bloom. But recently they started blooming. And they didn't all bloom at the same time, it was like a week between some of them. I have various size blooms on almost all now. I wish you luck and hope they bloom soon for you.
Thanks, wind storm came thru
Thanks, wind storm came thru on the 24th and wiped out most of the plants as I didn't stake them. We will see what happens to the rest but I'm guessing phosphorus as mentioned below. I'll try again next year since the plants grew to such amazing heights.
I live at the mouth of the
I live at the mouth of the keys. It is August and it is hot. Bee friendly sent me some wild flower seeds. Two grew. One I have no clue what it is. It is tall and bushy. The other grey like crazy straight up. At 2 feet of course I staked it. I stake everything that I do not want to flop over. Now I noticed as the flowers (3) are showing their color. I live in an apartment and grow these flowers because the bee population is dying off. I have 2 pkg to plant. Is there a "time"? All we have is sun and humidity. Will they attract bees?
I live in Southern
I live in Southern California. My sunflowers are in full bloom but will die in a month due to the heat and the end of summer. I was curious as to what are some flowers that I can plant that are seasonal and will bloom in the winter to replace the sunflowers? If you know any, it would be extremely helpful, thank you!
I had a great sunflower crop
I had a great sunflower crop this season, but when cutting them down I noticed that there were larvae living inside the stems. They were completely hollow all the way up 6-10 inches beneath the blossoms... what is this and how can I avoid it in the future?
Sounds like sunflower
Sounds like sunflower maggots! A small fly lays its eggs on the stem which then hatch and burrow inside to eat the pith in the center of the stem. Since the pith doesn't have anything to do with the movement of nutrients within the plant, the maggots don't really do any harm. That is why you had a great crop of flowers despite the larvae.
What is the botanical name of
What is the botanical name of sunflower
I planted "vanilla"
I planted "vanilla" sunflowers in my garden for the first time this year. It is now mid-August and the flowers have not bloomed yet, although there is a tiny bit of yellow just peeking out of the center buds. Is this normal? Or did I plant them too late? (I think it was very early June when I planted them). Thanks.
Hi, Karen, If this is
Hi, Karen,
If this is Sunflower 'Vanilla Ice' (the only one we can find with "vanilla" in its name, the sow-to-bloom time is 60 days during a hot summer, according to one source. The same one suggests planting out doors in mid-April through mid-May were cited, with an eye to avoiding a frost (that's directly in the soil; not starting indoors as early as Feb or March) .
Apparently it is a late summer bloomer that can keep going into October, so give it a little more time—and start it earlier next year.
sunflower pests
I always seem to have a problem with small worms that completely destroy the mammoth seeds as they mature. Any ideas on how to prevent this from happening?
When you cut a flower off of
When you cut a flower off of a plant, does a new flower grow from the same stem?
Deadheading sunflower blooms
Deadheading sunflower blooms helps the plant focus its energy toward new flower growth, not necessarily on that particular stem.
one of my plants has 10
one of my plants has 10 heads?????
is that common??
Some types of sunflowers
Some types of sunflowers bloom with multiple flower heads on each stem.
I also have a plant that has
I also have a plant that has grown more like a bush and it has at least 30 sunflower heads maybe more!! I am in awe, as I don't plant any of mine, they all come from birdseed that is dropped. I will call my plant Amazing!!!
Just planted 8 little
Just planted 8 little sunflowers I bought in a shop; all seem to be doing well - even with the lack of sun this summer. My question is will the same sunflowers grow again next year, or is it a case of saving the seeds and growing from them?
Sunflowers are annual plants
Sunflowers are annual plants so you will have to replant them every year.
I was gifted some sunflower
I was gifted some sunflower seeds from a friends plant. The original plant was well over 10 ft. tall. While lovely, her off springs plant, is only about 5 ft tall.
Do they loose height with each next generations planting?
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