Flowering Gardens

Sunflowers will stand proud overlooking many other garden items and light it up with sunlight. You can find beauty in them either standalone, or they also make great edging around other garden and landscape items. Sunflowers can accentuate nearly anything with brightness where the sun goes.

Scientifically, sunflowers family is of the genus Helianthus. There are annual and perennial varieties of sunflowers. The largest demand by sunflowers is the need for sunlight. Unlike some flowers that will dry out and die, sunflowers flourish better in fuller sunlight. And their face reflects it. Putting them in the sunniest parts of your garden will do your sunflowers wonders.

Always keep in mind that sunflowers grow tall and large. For this reason they can make neat walls or patches in your garden landscape. As a border they look sunny and will no doubt draw attention to everything they are around.

Depending on your climate, sunflowers usually bloom somewhere between mid-summer, and mid-fall. Another thing you will probably like about sunflowers is that they aren’t really that picky about where they are planted. To thrive they need only reasonably fertile soil and efficient drainage. It doesn’t hurt to add additional fertilizer though. You will find success planting the seeds directly where you want them to sprout upward, and should find that sunflowers will start out quickly.

You will find that there are a number of critters that love sunflower seeds in their diet, such as squirrels, rabbits, some birds, and insects. To share with these, you will probably want to plant 3 times more sunflower seeds than you need and it should balance down to what you desire. They eat and you still have a beautiful presence of sunflowers in your garden. 

When planting your seeds for sunflowers in your garden, keeping them about a foot from each other and other plants will give them the space they need to grow the biggest heads. Closer planting will bring you smaller results that will not reach their full size. For most this is undesirable as they are looking for the large bloom that many expect from these flowers.

Like with corn, when dealing with annual varieties, you will want to rotate your sunflowers. This will allow your soil to maintain a lot better, and help your whole garden in the long run as well.

When shopping, you will find many choices in quality sunflower seeds. Everywhere from local florists, department stores, supermarkets, and of course there are many more choices in the comforts of your home, online. When choosing sunflower seeds, you will want to make sure they are the best for your climate, though again, often they have a good range of ideal planting environments. Follow the directions and your sunflowers should look very similar to the picture that comes with your seeds.