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Gardening Tips: Planting Sunflower Seeds

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Let The Sunshine In: Plant Some Sunflowers This Spring!

Everybody loves to see sunflowers. Those towering giants with the big golden blooms. They automatically make you smile!

There are dozens of varieties of sunflowers. From those mammoth, towering plants you see lining a field or fence to little dwarf sunflowers you can grow in a pot on the windowsill. You'll even find them in lots of colors like bright yellows, sunny golds and russet and maroon.

The sunflower is native to America and it's an annual plant which means you have to replant every year. They're a relative of daisies, marigolds and dandelions and they can grow from 3 to 15 feet tall.

While it's typically planted for it's ornamental qualities some people also plant sunflowers so visiting birds will have something to eat. In fact, you'll often see a row of sunflowers in a garden to keep the birds away from the corn.

Sunflowers also send out very deep roots and use a lot of water. So you'll also see people planting them in areas where there might be drainage problems so they can help sop up some of the ground water.

For all the sunshine and smiles that sunflowers bring into our lives they're very easy to grow and they require very little care. A nice plot of soil, a little fertilizer, and lots of water and sunshine and they're very happy little flowers!

Table of Contents

  1. How To Plant Sunflowers
  2. Harvesting Your Sunflowers
  3. Ferry-Morse Annual Flower Seeds 1157 Sunflower - Mammoth
  4. More Ferry-Morse Sunflower Seeds
  5. Renee's Garden Sunflower Seeds
  6. What kind of Sunflowers are you going to plant?
  7. Garden Lenses
  8. Animal Lenses

How To Plant Sunflowers

You've probably seen sunflowers growing along a fence or a wall but that's not necessarily the best location. Planted properly you don't have to worry about a sunflower falling over or getting blown over by the wind.

The best place to plant is in an area where your flowers will get at least 6 to 8 hours of full sunlight each day. If that happens to be along a wall or fence that's fine. But if it happens to be in the middle of your back yard or field, that's even better.

Sunflowers deplete the surrounding soil so each year you plant you'll have to replenish the nutrients before you can plant. Till or dig in compost or manure to a depth of 2 to 3 feet before planting. You'll want the soil to be loose enough to allow proper drainage but firm enough to support the flower.

Plant your seeds at the depth recommended for the variety you've chosen.

It's important to water your plant often but be careful about over-watering. Sunflowers are prone to root-rot, particularly when they're still young. And as you plant grows its roots will reach deeper into the ground, enabling it to find the water and nutrients it needs. So be careful about over-watering as your plants mature.

If you're concerned about your plants blowing over in a storm then you can back off on watering so the ground won't be so soft.

You don't have to worry about feeding or fertilizing your sunflowers, either, once it's matured. Again, thanks to their hefty roots, they're well armed to take care of themselves. However, if you feel it's absolutely necessary, you can feed your plants about once every two weeks. Be careful to pour the fertilizer around the base of the plant and not on the stem.

If you're planting one of the mammoth varieties you should sow your seeds early in the spring - as soon as the temperature hits 50 degrees, both day and night.

Harvesting Your Sunflowers

When the petals start to fall off your flowers you'll see the florets in the center begin to dry up and the seeds begin to swell. At this point you should carefully cover the entire head with netting or mesh to keep the birds from stealing all your seeds. It also helps keep the heads intact in case you're planning to show them at the fair.

When the seeds have a hard shell, cut the stalk at the base. Now, just wait for the seeds to dry and them you can either remove them by hand or rub them over the edge of a basket.

Keep you seeds in a tightly sealed airtight container to keep out any rodents. That is, unless you're planning to toast them and eat them right away!

Ferry-Morse Annual Flower Seeds 1157 Sunflower - Mammoth

Line a country lane, put a border around your vegetable garden or plant them along your fence.

These Ferry-Morse Mammoth Sunflower seeds are guaranteed to grow and they'll reach heights of up to 12 feet tall!

The bloom in 75 to 90 days producing flowers up to a foot in diameter.
Ferry-Morse Annual Flower Seeds 1157 Sunflower - Mammoth (Grey Stripe) 7 Gram Packet

Ferry-Morse Annual Flower Seeds 1157 Sunflower - Mammoth (Grey Stripe) 7 Gram Packet

Amazon Price: $0.78 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

It's easy to grow sunflowers - all they need is a little soil, a little water and lots of sun! Brighten up any garden or corner of your yard with just a few or plant a whole field full for acres of glorious sunshine!

Ferry-Morse has been serving up the best in seed and gardening supplies for over 100 years and these seeds are guaranteed 100% to produce strong, vibrantly colored sunflowers up to 12 feet tall!

More Ferry-Morse Sunflower Seeds

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Renee's Garden Sunflower Seeds

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What kind of Sunflowers are you going to plant?

  • Anna May 15, 2012 @ 10:43 am | delete
    Annual cut mixture
  • Terrie_Schultz Apr 12, 2012 @ 9:23 pm | delete
    I love sunflowers! I plant them most years.
  • GramaBarb Mar 29, 2012 @ 11:14 am | delete
    Going to email this lens to my granddaughter as we are going to try growing sunflowers in our container patio garden :)
  • nightbear Feb 19, 2012 @ 7:54 pm | delete
    What a beautiful page about sunflowers and their care. Great information as I love to include sunflowers in my gardens for the birds. Blessed
  • WiscBear Feb 18, 2012 @ 12:10 pm | delete
    we plant a few variety of sunflowers in our "Recession Garden." Nice lens with some good info we will incorporate this growing season.
  • StaCslns Feb 7, 2012 @ 12:55 pm | delete
    Thank you! I had some problems last season growing the mammoth. Your tips helped me realize what I was doing wrong! It's a little harder to grow them here (Northern Washington) because our seasons have been so short lately! I will be starting mine in my sunroom this year!
  • Sergio Feb 3, 2012 @ 4:11 am | delete
    Sunflowers can definitely brighten up the day and put s smile on one's face. Not only that, eventually, it can be ready for harvesting. Sunflower seeds are a joy to munch on for sure! Working in the lawn care industry (http://www.sergioslandscaping.net) makes caring for flowers and plants like these a wonderful.
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