2015 Is The Year of the Sunflower

The International Organization for the Ornamental Plants Industry, Fleuroselect, has revealed the launch of its 2015 “The Year of the Sunflower” campaign. This beautiful flower has long been used in the florist business but this new promotion should introduce many more gardeners to the delights of these very easy plants.

Sunflowers (Helianthus Annuus)

These plants all have lovely, happy, daisy like flowers that have such an appeal to children and are ideal to introduce them to gardening. The colours range from near white through to deep yellow and orange and even rich mahogany. These attractive flowers can appear on plants as small as 30cm to giants at over 3m high. The tallest ever recorded reached a height of 7.5m tall and the shortest a mere 50mm.  And, if the flowers were not enough, the seeds they produce can help feed our garden birds through the winter.

Harvesting the seeds

Wait until the flower looks dead and the whole bloom is brown then cut off the flower head leaving enough stem to enable you to hang it up. Place a paper bag over the head to catch any seeds and hang the stem upside down in a warm airy room for two or three weeks or until the seeds are dry. Rub the heads together and the seeds will spill out. Apart from being a very good food source for birds, sunflower seeds make a nutritious snack for us – split the seeds in half and soak in salty water overnight then oven roast.

Easy to grow

After filling a 15cm plant pot with seed compost, gently press two seeds into the compost to a depth of about 1cm. Water the pot carefully and place in a light warm place where the temperature doesn’t drop below 12°. The seedling leaves should start to appear in about 7 to 14 days. If both the seeds germinate then pull out the weaker of the two. Keep the pots gently watered until they are ready to plant out after the danger of frost has gone. Depending on where you live in the UK, aim to start yours seeds off about 4 weeks before the last of the frost. Gradually introduce the pots to the lower outdoor temperature after which you can plant them in the garden or containers in a sunny area. Taller varieties should be staked in windy gardens to protect the large flowers from bending over.

An even easier way of planting the seeds is to plant direct into the garden soil. The resulting flowers will be slightly later in coming and you may have to protect the small seedlings against slugs but they will eventually appear the same as the indoor sown plants. Just follow the instructions on the back of the seed packet.

Here is a list of ten varieties of annual sunflowers that are so simple to grow and should be suitable for all sizes of plot or container.

1. Teddy Bear

Big gorgeous fluffy flowers that look good in containers and even better as a cut flower in a vase – height 45cm.

2. Little Dorrit

Large heads of rich yellow petals surrounding a deep chocolate centre just above dark shiny foliage – height 40-60cm.

3. Ms Mars

Dark pink to purple blooms appear on dark foliage. This variety makes an eye catching bouquet – height 50-60cm.

4. Russian Giant

With sunny warm days and plenty of room at their feet this variety can grow to over 3m.

5. Joker

Orange and red bicoloured flowers with a long flowering period – height 1.2m.

6. Moonlight

Striking creamy white flowers that are ideal for cutting – height 1.4m.

7. Jade Green

The newly opened flowers are luxurious lime green in colour that gradually fades to almost white. The unusual shades of green make these flowers perfect for indoors.

 8. Firecracker

This very dwarf sunflower with red and gold flowers blooms over a long season – height 60cm.

9. Autumn Beauty

Large flowers 15cm across in a beautiful blend of colours including cream, lemon, gold, bronze and mahogany – height 1.2-1.8m.

10. Velvet Queen

A really dark flowering sunflower bearing large blooms in a sumptuous deep velvet crimson – height 1.5m.

If you haven’t yet tried the delights of sunflowers in your home and garden they are definitely the flower to have in 2015. The aftercare is minimal – keep the plants weed free, feed throughout the season and stake taller varieties.  Whether you grow your sunflowers in the border, container, as an impromptu hedge or even in the vegetable plot for cut flowers, they will provide a gorgeous display for nominal effort.

For all your sunflower planting tools; plant pot, seeds, trowel, soil and more, visit our website.

Published September 17th, 2014 by Jordan. Article ref 3100

Tags: gardening, sunflower

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