Growing Sunflowers

Sunflowers, along with hollyhocks, are the prototypical country flower. They are so tall and need so much room to grow, that you need a large yard to accommodate them. But if you possibly can, they are a wonder, and much admired. I have had livestock truck drivers slow down their heavy trucks in order to appreciate a row of shaggy-petaled blooms along the front yard fence.

Buttercream yellow--my favorite shade for sunflowers

I'm not talking about growing sunflowers for seeds. Those plants are gigantic and don't always present themselves well, especially when they are ripening! But if you like the bright-hued, fence-leaning Helianthus, just planting a few seeds will reward you with an hedge of dark green, coarse-leaved, thick-stemmed, sunny faced compositae.

Giant, floppy, and utterly charming

I usually start my seeds indoors, because they will take awhile to get started, and I occasionally have trouble with damping off or hungry bugs. With the newer, colorful varieties, I set them outside along the fences in holes about two or three feet apart, and protect the shoots with cut-off paper cups with the bottoms taken out. Then I dig a trench that goes the length of the fence to irrigate them.

Eye-catching orange

The plants are drought-resistant, but only after they have established themselves. They will grow rapidly when the weather warms up. I usually plant several extra, because invariably one or two won't make it, and there will be a hole in the noble row of sunflowers that needs filling. They may drop seeds that sprout the next spring, but eventually, over several years, they will revert to the original golden yellow color.

Golden sunshine

A threesome against the fence post

Brilliant tangerine poking through the barbed wire

Plush chocolate against the buttercream

Interesting variegated color combination

Wild sunflower, backlit against the afternoon sky

A wild sunflower threesome