Small sunflowers give you the opportunity to create flower arrangements, fill in bare spots in your garden or yard and grow varieties that are good for collecting and eating the seeds. If you live in an apartment or city these small plants will add color to your porch or balcony.

Below is a list of a few of the more popular varieties.

• Teddy Bear Dwarf sunflower has big yellow blooms and the plants are only 2 feet high. They are very hardy and make great border plants. The blooms are one of my favorites for cut arrangements.
• Sunspot sunflowers are a perfect choice if you plan on collecting seeds for eating but do not want a huge plant. They only grow as high as 24 inches tall but produce a lot of blossoms and seeds. Sunflowers are high in natural fat and are great for natural snacks with many beneficial vitamins and minerals.
• If you are looking for one more of the shorter sunflower varieties the Tinies variety is a knee-high plant. It has the traditional yellow sunflower blossoms. These plants also makes a great border plants and arrangements.
• Prada Red Small variety is one of my favorites! They make great cut flower bouquets and are a stunning red color, which adds to any flower arrangement. They produce many blooms on branching 4-foot-tall stems.

Tips

• At the end of the season you can pick sunflower heads and dry them. I dry mine on a screen so that the petals lay flat. They will hold for quite some time and make great-added decorations on wreaths.
• If you pick a few heads and put out later in the winter season the birds will visit your yard and add entertainment with their wild antics.
• Dry your sunflower seeds on a screen so that they dry on all sides evenly. If they are too moist and you put them away they may mold. You can tell by the color and lighter feel if they are drying.

There are many different sizes and colors in sunflowers that make this easy to care for flower and a perfect addition to yards and gardens

Below is a copy of an article that ran in the Edible San Francisco during the winter of 2007.

It details Amy Franceschini’s interest and goal to get the Victory Garden program started again.

San Francisco artist Amy Franceschini seeks to reinvent the victory garden for a new age.
by Tara Austen Weaver

The year 1941 was not so different from today. Then, as now, our country was at war. Troops, supplies, and funds were being sent overseas. But there is one crucial difference: in World War II, citizens were more personally involved in the war effort. They bought war bonds, women went to work in factories, and families across the nation ripped out their lawns and flowers in order to grow food. Propaganda posters of the era proclaimed, “Plant a Victory Garden: Our Food is Fighting.” Within two years, 20 million families had responded to the challenge. Victory gardens were dug in backyards, outside businesses, in vacant lots, and on civic land such as the Boston Commons and Golden Gate Park. By 1945, such gardens were supplying 8 million tons of food—40 percent of the domestic food supply.

Now, more than six decades later, Amy Franceschini hopes the time is ripe for a new sort of civic gardening effort. A visual artist and University of San Francisco art professor, she has launched a pilot program called Victory Gardens 2007+.

The last I had heard the Victory gardens 2007 project was still going but the free seeds they were giving out and other garden accessories to start a garden were out of stock.

Victory gardens serve a useful purpose. They extend history and honor our service men. They promote healthy living and fresh food. It’s an excellent program. The Gardener’s Rake http://www.thegardenersrake.com will be hosting a Victory Garden Contest and Community Garden Contest starting Monday February 4, 2008. There will be no hidden fees or costs. It’s just a contest to promote Victory gardens and gardening. Check February 4 for contest rules.

A medicinal garden is a plus to any yard. The flowers are beautiful, easy to take care of and have healing benefits. There are many herbs that can be used in a medicinal garden. I have listed a few of the more popular and easy to use herbs below.

I have left herbs out that of this list that require a better understanding of their uses. I highly recommend studying the uses of herbs if you are interested in a larger medicinal garden.

• Angelica has antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Dry the leaves. You can make an herbal tea that is good for increased energy and stimulate blood circulation.
• Calendula is one of my favorite flowers. Besides being pretty and easy to care for it has many useful purposes. If you steep flowers in water you can make a mouthwash that is good for the gums. Creams are also made from calendula petals and plantain leaves to heal cuts and wounds.
• Catnip is known for its mild sedative properties for both cats and humans. The herb tea is taken as a natural cold remedy and fever reducer. It is also an herbal remedy for headaches and upset stomach.
• Chamomile has sedative properties. It is steeped in water to make an herb tea. It can be used as a sleep inducer. It is also popular in crèmes to treat rough or dry skin.
• Common Yarrow is taken as a natural cold remedy for the flu and to reduce a fever. It is brewed abs a tea for this purpose. Yarrow is often used in combination with elderflower and peppermint as a natural cold remedy. You can use the flower petals and make into a cream to treat cuts.
• Coriander has natural sedative properties. You can use an herbal tea as a sleep or calming aid.
• Dandelion – Many people consider dandelion a weed but it has many useful purposes. Use as a tea for over all health. It is also a diuretic and good for loosing weight.
• Echinacea Purpurea, known as the Purple Coneflower, are beautiful easy to care for flowers. They are popular in flowerbeds and attract butterflies. When steeped in water, and used as a tea it stimulates the immune system.
• Feverfew can be used as a home remedy for headache, particularly migraines. As an herbal tea, it is taken to reduce fevers or prevent muscle spasms.
• Horehound is often mixed with honey as a sore throat remedy. Candy has been made out of it for years that are good used as a cough drop.
• Hyssop is used as a natural cold remedy and home remedy for sore throat. A tea is made from the hyssop.
• Peppermint can be used an inhalant to loosen phlegm. It’s also a flavoring that has been used for years and a popular tea that seems to have a sooth effect.
• Plantain is a natural healing herb. If you are out in the woods or field and cut your self you can use a plantain leaf as a bandage until you get home. The elastic ridges in the leaves help hold the leaf in place. I have used this for cuts many times.
• St. John’s Wort has sedative properties. It is often prescribed as herbal remedy for depression. This herb must be used with extreme care! It’s also a very pretty delicate flower.
• Steep Sweet Basil leaves in water to make an herbal tea that is used as a remedy for indigestion. It can be used as a cold oil to massage sore muscles. Basil is one of the most popular herbs used in cooking and many recipes.
• Thyme is an herb with many uses. If you make an herbal tea with honey it is used as an extremely effective sore throat remedy and eases scratchy coughs. It is another herb with many culinary uses.
• The Valerian root has sedative properties and is used to treat anxiety. It is often made into a crème and used as a home remedy for acne and skin rashes. Please use extreme care with this herb.

Herbs look nice with added garden art, particularly wood items or old farm tools. They also thrive in containers.