... I know he produced several versions of his famous ‘Sunflowers’ painting, one of which was sold at Christies for almost 25 million pounds!! All that money for a picture of my ancestors!! Boy, are we some family! We’ve even managed to procure an entry in the Guinness Record Book when one of ... Read review
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A review by CherryBlossom on Sunflower (plant) May 9th, 2004
Author's product rating:
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Advantages:
Very easy to grow - children love them
Disadvantages:
The tallest types need staking with a LONG stick or they're likely to droop .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Kids love me, y’know. It’s funny really because little ‘uns are usually frightened of anything that towers above them but even those who’ve never met me before fall instantly in love. Dicky birds are pretty keen, too.
I love the way children marvel at the world around them, looking at simple things as if they’ve been created by some kind of miracle. I think that’s why they love me so much. They can actually watch the miracle happen. Studying a plant as it grows from a tiny seed to a flowering plant is a truly fascinating experience and being as big as I am, everything appears to happen as if filmed by one of those cameras that make a plant look as if it’s gone through its life cycle in about 30 seconds. Alright, I know I’m exaggerating a bit there, even I’m not that energetic, but I do shoot up pretty quickly. Take my measurements daily and see for yourself.
A lot of people who grow me are bird lovers. Once my magnificent blooms have faded, the centre disc of my flower head will contain a host of fresh seeds that finches and tits love me for.
Not that its only birds who’ll eat my seeds. Some of you humans seem to enjoy them, too. I’m told my seeds contain zinc so make a healthy snack that promotes mental alertness and the production of white blood cells.
~~ WHAT AM I LIKE?
My family’s quite large and like you humans, some of us are tall and others are short. Some have big heads and some are dead cute.
As I said earlier, when it comes to children it’s usually a matter of the bigger the better. My uncle ‘Giant Russian’ can grow to an impressive 15 feet and has the most brilliant, bright yellow flower. He’s always a big hit with the kids although his wife, the 3rd daughter of the earl of ‘Earthwalker’ is perhaps more attractive. She comes from a mixed race family where some relations are a fabulous deep terracotta and cover just about every shade through to a stunning bright orange. They’re not quite as tall as ‘Giant Russian’ himself but at 10 feet, they’re certainly striking. Some people say that watching my taller relatives grow reminds them of a little boy called Jack who once climbed a very tall plant. I’m not sure they’d want to be climbed, though.
My uncle, as lovable as he is, tends to believe that taller is always better but I know there are lots of people out there who enjoy visits from my shorter relatives, too. They’ll grow them in pots on the patio where their marvellous blooms can be enjoyed at closer quarters. Children love studying our faces and not only are we beautiful, we’re tactile, too. Try looking into the face of a mature sunflower without wanting to touch the seeds.
My cousin ‘Incredible’ is very popular with those ladies who aren’t drawn to the bigger, more strapping types. His bright yellow flowers are reminiscent of traditional sunflowers but as he rarely grows to more than about 16 inches, he’s the perfect company on the sunny patio.
‘Incredible‘ has a cute brother, too. His name’s ’Teddy Bear’. He’s slightly bigger than his brother and unusual because he has no central disc and bears double flowers that give him an almost fluffy appearance. Poor thing was bullied a lot as a nipper, but he’s since learned to maximise his potential.
The rest of my family are simply too numerous to mention but we’re certainly a mixed bunch. I’ve an auntie whose face is cream, another who’s an absolutely gorgeous ruby red and an uncle who’s dark brown. All are wonderful in their own way and all are equally as easy to grow.
~~ WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH ME?
Our seeds are quite large so easy to handle for children and adults alike.
We can either be sown in pots and transplanted to our chosen spot once growth’s well underway, or we can be sown directly in the ground or final container (that could be an urn but hopefully not one containing your Great Aunt Maud).
I personally prefer to be sown in a pot and kept up high where those horrible slugs and snail aren’t as likely to cover me in their disgusting slime and, even worse, gobble me up! We’re vulnerable as seedlings and molluscs love us. Oh, the blight of popularity.
Pop my seed into some decent multi-purpose compost. Don’t use the stuff that’s come from your home compost heap because as good as it is as a soil improver, it’ll be far too strong for tender seedlings. We’re not too fussy though so I wouldn’t bother buying special seed compost. Please do try to buy peat free; use of peat in the garden is doing irrevocable damage to our peat bogs, areas often likened to the rain forests due to their ability to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, thus helping combat climate change. Using less peat is such an easy thing to do that nobody has a good excuse for its continued use.
Ok, rant over. Back to how I grow.
Plant 4-5 seeds in a 3” pot at any time between mid April and mid May and water well. Some people swear by putting the pot in a plastic bag until germination has taken place but I‘m generally happy enough without and will normally creep above the surface after about 7-10 days as long as you keep the compost moist. Sunshine helps germination but don’t place us when the sun will be belting down all day long. A few hours in the afternoon are nice, thank you.
Once your seedlings have developed two true leaves (the first two leaves that appear are seed leaves and look totally different to the true leaves) start picking out the weakest plants leaving only one per pot. I know that sounds heartless, we’re talking about my family after all, but things are different in the plant world. There simply isn’t room for the weak. Y’know, survival of the fittest and all that. Leave for another 2-3 weeks before transplanting to wherever you’ve decided they’re to grow. Make sure it’s the sunniest spot in the garden because even though our name was developed from our looks rather than our needs, sunshine is a must if you want us to look healthy and bursting with vitality. A free draining soil is desirable as we don’t like having to stand with our feet in water so if your soil’s heavy, this is where your home-made compost will come in useful. Dig some in to open up the soil structure. If you’ve decided to cultivate one of the tall types, remember to give their roots enough space to develop well; either a big pot (about 12”) or straight in the ground.
From here on in, growth will be rapid with flowers appearing about 60 days after sowing. If you’re growing one of my taller relatives, you’ll probably need to start thinking about stakes as their long stems can rarely carry the weight of the flowers without some kind of support.
~~KEEPING ME HAPPY
We’re very grateful plants, y’know. If you forget to fertilize us we won’t mind too much although for really good flower production, I suggest using a fertilizer that’s low in nitrogen. This is because nitrogen helps the productions of leaves but what you want is flowers so something like tomato feed would be much appreciated. While we don‘t mind going hungry, whatever you do, don’t let us go thirsty. The bigger we are, the more we’ll need to drink. If we don’t get enough water we’ll soon be looking very miserable indeed and if left too long, it‘ll be impossible to rejuvenate us.
Some shelter from winds is recommended, especially for my very tall relatives. I just know your children would be disappointed if their plants got well under way only to be knocked down by a gust of wind.
One more point I’d like to make is that you’ll sometimes find seeds described as producing plants with multiple heads. Don’t be sucked in by this. We can ALL have multiple heads if you want us to. All you need to do is pinch out the first flower bud so that we branch out, producing a flower on the end of each new stem. Each bloom won’t be as big as a single flower would’ve been but we do look attractive with several heads smiling down at you.
~~ FOR THE SNEEZY TYPES AMONGST YOU
Most of my relatives have lots of pollen to attract bees. We can’t really survive on our own without it. But we know some of you humans get all bunged up and sneezy when there’s lots of pollen about so just for your sake, we’ve allowed breeders to cross several members of the family thus creating pollen free hybrids. They’re all dwarfs though so please don’t expect mammoth plants. For a traditional looking plant, ‘Big Smile’ is perfect although only 12-15 inches high. Great for patios and being pollen free, the flowers will have a longer vase life should you choose to cut them. Pollen free also means less chance of them staining your best table clothes or anything else they might come into contact with. If you want something bigger, my auntie ‘Sonja’ is also nice. She’ll grow to about 3 feet and is an exquisite tangerine colour (oh how I wish I‘d been blessed with her looks).
~~ MISCELLANY
I’ve done a bit of genealogy in my time and found that we’re part of the daisy family, with traceable relatives going right back to 1568. They were living in Belgium although I’ve been told that we originally came from Mexico. By the early 1600s, we’d established ourselves in England, too.
I’m very proud of our heritage and for good reasons, too. Just think how fascinated Vincent Van Gogh was with us. I know he produced several versions of his famous ‘Sunflowers’ painting, one of which was sold at Christies for almost 25 million pounds!! All that money for a picture of my ancestors!! Boy, are we some family! We’ve even managed to procure an entry in the Guinness Record Book when one of my great uncles grew to a massive 25 feet 5 inches back in 1986!
Fifteen minutes of fame? We’ve had centuries of it!
Advantages: Large bright yellow flowers which make you smile Disadvantages: the tall ones can get very tall!
...They are very partial to sunflower seedlings and if you are not careful will demolish the whole lot in one night. The seeds will only take a week or so to start to germinate so keep your eye on them.
I would recommend sowing 2 or 3 together and then as the seedlings develop thin out the weaker ones and you can even gently transplant stronger ones elsewhere if things get a little crowded. The plants want to be around 2 feet apart to grow to maturity. ... ...make sure you have plenty of friends and neighbours who may be willing to take a few off your hands! I often take my excess to my daughter’s primary school as I think all children just love these plants.
As the plants grow you will need to stake them very strongly, as they will grow very tall – the tallest we have had was measured using my youngest and it came to 3 and a bit Elizabeths! Ok around 11 feet!!! Now, another problem you may have is that ...
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...Vincent van Gogh painted his sunflower pictures in 1888. There are many other paintings of sunflowers they are such a beautiful flower, big and bright. Sunflowers are very easy to grow. They are perfect for a first flower for a child to grow. So do you know what a sunflower is? A sunflower, Latin name Helianthus annuus belonging to the daisy family. It is an annual a yellow flower hence the name sun. The centre has often a contrasting brown colour ... ...sunflower is a simple single flower but there are also double flowers. The basic one is just one flower on a stalk but there are sunflowers where there is more than one flower per stalk.
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A sunflower is easy to grow from seed, seeds are available from most places that sell seeds, garden centres, Wilkinson’s, even some supermarkets they vary in price from about 80p upwards to £2.00p
Sunflower seeds should be sown late spring about 2 inches ...
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Advantages: Birds love the seeds Disadvantages: None
Sunflowers or to know them by their Latin name, Helianthus annus, are a welcome addition to many gardens. They can be a focal point grown along a wall or fence, where their bright yellow, large-headed flowers draw your eye upwards. They are a hardy annual plant.
They are planted from large seeds from March to May where they are going to flower, or alternatively, as I have done, planted them in individual small 5 inch pots of compost and started ... ...be planted about 1/2 inch deep.
They need to be kept moist but not too wet or the seed will rot. When they are about 6 inches tall they can be planted out into the garden. They prefer a well-drained soil in a sunny position.
They flower from August to October when the large heads can be dried out and the seeds fed to the birds. Or you can just leave them where they are and the birds will continue to eat the seeds throughout the Winter. In exposed ...
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Advantages: Lots of outdoor plants and pots, regular offers on, nice place to browse, lots of unusual things Disadvantages: Garden tools expensive, plants are not the cheapest around
...the place gently buzzing with more than its usual share of people of advanced years mulling tirelessly over tomato or apple chutney; or dahlia or penstommon. The reason? Highlight of the week - National Wyevale 10% Discount for the Over 60's Day.
Staff are pleasant and don't rush your purchases through the checkout which matters to some people. From tuning into conservations with customers they also seem well equipped to answer basic horticultural questions.
IN SHORT
To stop this long review from growing to sunflower proportions, here are some quick notes on my experiences of Wyevale. An impressive selection of outdoor plants, but not indoor ones. A good place to browse for presents. Pots are keenly priced. Garden tools aren't. Plenty of products to transform your garden and draw upon ideas in all those garden shows.
To sum up...
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Advantages: Colourful and easy to grow Disadvantages: Not totally hardy in UK
...-eyed) Susan. The term coneflower arises because as the seeds mature they form a conical shape in the centre of the flower. Some of the species are referred to as Rudbeckia hirta, the term hirta meaning hairy, which I take to refer to fine hairs on the leaves.
Chiltern Seeds has an excellent on-line catalogue that lists eighteen species of Rudbeckia, many with photos. Note that your computer must have cookies enabled for this site, otherwise you will only be able to view the first page in each alphabetical section. A few seed suppliers list Rudbeckias as sunflowers and indeed they are both classified as Compositae (daisy family) because the flower construction is similar. But to me this is regrettable: sunflowers (Helianthus) are generally larger and coarser, the favourite plant for children to grow because they are such fun.
The seeds are...
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Advantages: pretty plant with many uses in the kichen and garden. Disadvantages: none
...the roses can still be mulched. They form very good ground cover eventually and no weeding will be necessary under prickly roses.
Chives can be beneficially grown also with chrysanthemums, sunflowers and tomatoes and help to prevent scab on apples and you can make an infusion with the leaves to spray plants affected with aphids. So as you can see it is a very useful plant to grow just about everywhere.
There is another variety of chives called Chinese chives which is also worth looking out for. While this plant is not quite so prolific it does have a rather nice subtle garlic flavour and delicate starry white flowers. These also make a nice addition to the garden and kitchen....
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21.02.2006
06.02.2001
