Sunflowers! Helianthus annuus, from the greek ‘Helios’ meaning sun and ‘Anthos’ meaning flower, a perfect name. Such a cheery bright yellow, they really are sunshine on a stem. One of my favourite sights is a field full of them against a bright blue sky. Everyone knows a sunflower, it’s that classic flower that you draw as a child a big round centre surrounded by a halo of petals. Its also probably one of the first seeds that you sow, so easy, a big chunky seed that even the most clumsiest of child can thrust into the soil. Then you wait, oh that waiting, something that children are not really good at but then out it pops and it just keeps growing. Who can grow the tallest, adding that competitive edge. It can all end in disaster though with one chomp from a slug or snail and thats the end! Its like a soap opera.
I used to grow the big tall sunflowers on my allotment and leave the seed heads for the birds. But if you want to grow sunflowers for cutflowers in a small garden then you have to be a bit selective of the varieties you choose. There are now many cultivars that are shorter and branching and that means you get multiple flowers from one plant compared to non-branching types that once you cut that is the flower finished. For the branching types you can pinch the top off the plant when they have grown and developed a few sets of leaves and that will encourage long, usually thinner, stems perfect for cutting. Or you can just let them grow as normal and once you have cut your first flower then you will get more branches forming from there. Plant closer together if you want smaller heads which are often easier to use in arrangements compared to the big flower heads.
So yes as I said they are so easy from seed, they can be sown direct into the soil once the risk of frosts have passed in May/June. But I start mine off undercover in my unheated greenhouse, this is for two reasons, the first is that you can get a bit of a headstart and secondly you can protect them from slug damage. They are vulnerable to that so I like to get them to a reasonable size before I plant them out, potting them on into bigger pots if necessary. Once planted they will need staking especially the tall ones and don’t underestimate the size of cane! Some can be over 2 metres tall. Also don’t tie onto the cane too tightly, I had a bit of a disaster with one of my sunflowers last year the stem became so thick and the twine too tight that it cut through the stem and cut it in half! Always learning. Ha ha! So keep an eye on them and re tie if needed. Some of the really tall sunflowers stems can be a couple of inches thick.
Last year I grew a few different varieties.
From the top and round clockwise.
‘Red Sun‘ a beautiful deep red and varied colours of red, very tall, much taller than I expected so would benefit from pinching out I think. ‘Ruby Eclipse’ I loved this variety, various shades of red, through pink to peachy colours. Also was the first flowering and lots of flowers from one plant. ‘Harlequin’ another mix of flower colours and various shades of reds and yellows but all very vibrant. ‘Earthwalker’ mixed colours again, this was a nice rich yellow but usually more orange shades, this one was the tallest, perhaps too tall for my garden but maybe if I’d pinched it… ‘Vanilla Ice‘ brilliant as a cutflower, a beautiful pale yellow, ‘Valentine‘ one of my favourites a cool lemon yellow with a smaller head, I used this in a lot of arrangements and ‘Moonwalker‘ in the middle, a classic sunflower yellow, very productive branching type.
We have a new variety at Higgledy garden this year too, as chosen by Higgledy Gemma. Helianthus ‘Summer Lovin’ which looks gorgeous. Creamy white with red centres, thats straight on my shopping list!
The best time to pick a sunflower is just as the petals are starting to unfurl and before the insects get to them! As with many cut flowers once pollinated thats when they will start to drop their petals. But leave some flower heads for the bees, I love watching bees crawl all over a sunflower head sometimes there can be 2 or 3 on there. The bees love them. If you are growing to sell you may want to think about pollen which can be a ‘problem’ on a sunflower, some can drop quite a lot and it can stain fabrics. If that is the case many F1 hybrids are pollen free.
Don’t forget the perennial sunflowers either, they are brilliant. I especially love Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’, now creating a nice clump in my garden.
Higgledy Anne
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