Favorite Sunflower Plants to Grow
Popular and Unusual Helianthus Cultivars for Garden Landscapes
Jun 7, 2009
The large yellow blossoms are a familiar summer and autumn sight in many garden landscapes, however there are different types of sunflowers that are good for different things. See some of the best eating sunflowers, dwarf varieties and those useful for cut flower arrangements.
Sunflowers for Eating Seeds
One of the primary reasons gardeners plant sunflowers in their garden is for the edible seeds. But some of the new cultivars or dwarf varieties don't bear much fruit. Here are some sunflowers known for their bountiful harvest of seeds.
- Mammoth Russian - Takes 80 days to mature so needs a long enough growing season of full sun. Huge sunflower heads with striped seeds grow on stalks 9-12' stalks.
- Super Snack Hybrid - Only 5' tall this shorter sunflower has large-sized seeds on medium-sized flower heads of 10 inches in diameter.
- Bicentenary - Another 5' tall sunflower, this one is unique because of the bicolored blooms it produces. Bicentenary has a wine red ring around the center of the petals, while the outside half of the petals is a bright yellow color.
- Tarahumara - A medium-sized sunflower growing 4-6' tall, the seeds are pale grey colored. Space these more closely together for a full harvest.
Dwarf Sunflower Cultivars
Gardeners can try these more compact sunflowers when there just isn't room for a 12 foot giant.
- Floristan - Floristan sunflower is a red-brown petaled sunflower that grows 3-6' tall and makes a great cut flower.
- Music Box - A dwarf cultivar growing only 2' tall this sunflower has two-toned flowers.
- Double Dandy - A dark red sunflower that average 2-3' tall and has maroon colored, double blooms.
- Teddy Bear - A yellow, double bloom is produced on 2-3' tall stalks these flowers resemble pom-poms.
Maroon, White or Pink Sunflowers
Not all sunflowers are bright, golden yellow. These sunflowers are unusually colored and add a twist of color to the landscape.
- Velvet Queen - A rusty-orange or yellow-red colored flower that stays compact at about 3-4' tall.
- Cappuccino - A deep orangy-maroon sunflower that reaches 6-8' tall.
- Florenza - A medium-tall sunflower that reaches 4-6' tall, this sunflower has a dark maroon inside ring on the petals, which are a pale, creamy white.
- Italian White - An icy, pale yellow or cream color sunflower that has cool undertones, compared to the warm hues of most sunflower blooms. 4-6' tall with small flowers only about 3 inches in size.
- Autumn Beauty - A mix series of rust, maroon and orange colored sunflowers that can grow anywhere from 3-6' tall.
Grown easily from seed, there's no reason not to try a few sunflowers in the garden. Whatever landscape situation gardeners want to add vertical accent, and cheerful summer blooms to, there is sure to be a sunflower selection just right!
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