Sunflowers Warm The Soul
While enjoying these gorgeous, very cold winter days, my thoughts drift to summer - clear skies, the warmth of the sun on my back, soft green lawn and sunflowers.
Yes, sunflowers - those overused, exploited members of the flower garden. I realize that for the past few years we’ve been inundated with them, along with the Holstein cow. Most all of us have on display at least one sunflower carved into wood, fired onto dishes, stitched onto clothing or hanging as a still-life on the wall. I can attest to this fact. I just chipped my fingernail on the ceramic sunflower embossed on a light switch.
Still, I can think of no other flower that warms my soul this time of year as much as the sunflower. There is something very charming and spirited about bright yellow petals surrounding a big, dark flower head.
My summer garden wouldn’t be complete without bouquets of sunflowers. The new varieties are shorter and bushier (two to six feet) and their petals are no longer just yellow. They tout colors of gold, bronze, mahogany, red and bicolor. In the past, I’ve grown Italian White (a black center with white petals), Velvet Queen (a dark center and deep red petals) and Teddy Bear (a 2-foot plant with double soft blossoms that you could just hug).
This year, the catalogs are filled with dozens of new varieties and I plan to give a number of them a whirl. After all, how can you pass up a flower described as “petals of citron yellow surrounding a center of dark chocolate.” That’s Moonwalker out of Thompson & Morgan. I am not sure whether I should plant it or eat it.
Along with the showy sunflowers, I must have a few giants for seed eating, (a couple of heads for the family, many heads for the birds). The garden wouldn’t be complete without these giant sentries nodding a friendly welcome.
The sunflower is native to the Western Plains of the U.S. That alone tells you how easy it is to grow. Direct sunlight is its only demand. It isn’t particular about soil, though rich, organic soil will stimulate better growth. When it is hot and dry during the summer (which they love), water them deeply and cover the soil with a layer of mulch to prevent water loss through evaporation.
Because the seeds are so large they are easy to handle. Those of us with children or grandbabies have an opportunity to share with them the incredible joy of planting a seed, watching it grow and harvesting the fruit (or picking bundles of flowers for mama or grandma).
Edible sunflowers can be sown directly into the ground when the soil is warm, usually about the time we plant squash. Planting them on a hill of compost may provide startling results. Because they have a tendency to grow very tall (6 to 18 feet), they should be staked. And remember to plant lots of them, they require cross-pollination to produce seeds.
Sunflowers that are grown for their flowers will bloom faster if started indoors. Start them about three weeks prior to the last killing frost. Fill two-inch-diameter peat pots with dampened potting soil and plant one seed per pot. Cover the pots with clear plastic or a piece of glass. Set the pots in a very warm spot where the soil will heat up to around 70 degrees. Setting them on heating cables works great. Once the seeds have germinated, uncover them and place them on a sunny windowsill. Or, set them under fluorescent tubes that are hung about four inches away from the plants. About 10 days before planting them in the garden, begin the hardening-off process - gradually acclimating them to the outdoors.
This year, the National Garden Bureau celebrates 1996 as the year of the sunflower. I may never want to see another Holstein cow, but there will always be room for the charming sunflower.
, DataTimes