Sunflowers add color and fun to a yard. I grow them in borders, containers, as a tee-pea garden and have even made a sunflower house. The neighborhood loved that one!
There are many types of sunflowers. Some are very tall and primarily grown for the seeds. The smaller sunflowers are great for borders and as cut flowers. Others are grown for their variety of colors.
Planting Large Sunflowers
- Giant Grey Stripe varieties produce can grow 15 feet tall and have giant heads 15 inches in diameter. These blooms have a grand quality and attract people as well as birds. This sunflower is great for saving seeds to feed the birds.
- I also grow an heirloom sunflower called Grandfather sunflower that can grow 20 to 25 foot tall. A friend gave them to me and the seeds originally came from overseas. I make sure I save some of these seeds every year.
- Orange Sun Bright has big double-faced orange blossoms on 6-foot-tall stalks.
A friend sent be a sunflower that grow 8 foot tall and has dark red petals and a black maroon center. It is probably my favorite sunflower. Mixed in with the other sunflowers give the entire yard a stunning look. - Italian White has creamy white to pale yellow blossoms. The plant will reach a height of around 6 feet.
- Paul Bunyon and Aztec Gold varieties are large plants with large bright blossoms. These, along with the mammoth varieties will provide enough seeds for you and the birds.
Planting Dwarf or Border Sunflowers
- Choose the Teddy Bear Dwarf sunflowers if you like big yellow blooms and plants that are only 2 feet high. These are great border plants or the blooms can be cut for arrangements. These are my most popular dwarf sunflower variety. They look great in arrangements and I sell the bouquets as fast as I pick them.
- Select Tinies variety if you prefer knee-high plants and traditional yellow sunflower blossoms. These choices make a great border plant and look great in arrangements. I like mixing these in with other summer cut flowers.
- Choose Sunspot sunflowers if you love eating seeds but do not want a huge plant. This variety only grows 24 inches tall but is packed with seed-producing blossoms.
- Prada Red Small variety is great for bouquets. This variety produces many blooms on branching 4-foot-tall stems. Their blossoms are a beautiful red color and add emphasis to bouquets.
I often mix the red prada, teddy bear and minis for a bright all sunflower bouquet. They just have such color and cheer as an arrangement.
Here is a link for an article I did on making a sunflower house: http://thegardenersrake.com/theme-gardens-sunflower-house
Add a few sunflower varieties to your yard this year.
Tags: sunflower varieities, add sunflowers to your yard, growing sunflowers, sunflowers make great bouquests
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