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!
~~+~~+~~
25 MILLION POUNDS WORTH OF FAME 
