Nothing Says Summer Like Giant Sunflowers

Sunflowers remain a traditional summer favorite, and each time I spot a sunflower in someone’s yard, it makes me pause and smile. There is something about those bright yellow petals facing the sun that gives you an instant mood booster. This summer, I decided to grow sunflowers from seeds and the packet said, “easiest seeds to grow.”

Nothing says summer quite like sunflowers. Bright yellow and cheerful and like a mini sun standing tall, dwarfing everything in your flower garden, sunflowers are the iconic symbol of summer. The packet had 100 seeds of the Mammoth Grey Stripe and I decided to share them with a friend, who is new on Marco and wanted to create a pollinator patch on her side yard. The giant Mammoth Grey Stripe is considered a common sunflower, with brilliant golden yellow petals and a dark center attractive to butterflies, birds, and bees.

According to the packet, they grow eight to 12 feet tall and might need support. They prefer full sun and suggest planting it in well-drained soil sheltered from the wind. The Mammoth Grey Stripe is low maintenance and should be planted as a perennial border where its dazzling yellow petals will be the focal point.

Going beyond the gold, I decided to try a packet of Chocolate Cherry Sunflower. I had a packet of 50 seeds of the Chocolate Cherry Sunflower. Sunflowers now come in a variety of colors beyond the iconic yellow - orange, red, chocolate brown, and even a black cultivar. The color palette of sunflowers has expanded, allowing for a diverse range of hues.

The bad news - my seedlings were not a gardening success, as the iguanas and rabbits enjoyed the sunflowers’ tender tips as they sprouted as seedlings. But the great news – my friend’s sunflower seeds grew beyond her wildest expectations.

Gabby Stigall’s sunflowers, both the iconic bright yellow and chocolate cherry, are thriving! No rabbits or iguanas, and the Yellow Mammoth Grey Grew is towering at over 10 feet tall. The Chocolate Cherry Sunflower grew into an upright bush with multiple branches loaded with stalks of deep colored sunflowers growing up to seven to eight feet tall.

It is fun to grow giant sunflowers but it is more fun to learn about their natural ability to track the movement of the sun – a behavior called heliotropism. According to experts, as a young plant, the sunflowers follow the sun from east to west during the day. It is mesmerizing to watch this behavior and that’s one reason sunflowers have to grow tall. Can you imagine an entire field of sunflowers facing the same way as they follow the sun! Sunflowers are also magnets for pollinators, with bees competing with birds and butterflies for the large flower head filled with nectar.

Fun Facts about Sunflowers:

• Some grow over 12 feet tall, making them very tall flowering plants in your garden.
• They turn to face the sun as it moves across the sky.
• A single flowerhead can produce up to 2,000 seeds waiting for next year’s growing season.
• Sunflowers symbolize loyalty in many cultures and are always associated with positivity and warmth. If you want to cheer a friend, an arrangement of sunflowers will always do the trick.

Not to be easily deterred, I have additional seed packets of sunflowers in creamy whites and crimsons, just newly planted in a more protected area inside the lanai away from rabbits and iguanas. The packet said germination time is seven to 10 days and will bloom in 65 days with a mature height of five to seven feet. Sunflowers are quintessential to a summer garden, and when dreaming about a summer garden, sunflowers are at the top of the list.