It’s easy to grow your own flowers from seed. Here’s beautiful flowers, growing information & seed collections for gifts.
COUNTRY GARDEN SEED SHOP
Best Sunflowers for Wildlife
These Sunflowers are lovely in the garden and brilliant for cut flowers. Each plant is well branched with many long strong stems. Masses of lovely yellow, red and gold flowers are produced for weeks on end. They are easy to grow, great for cut flower production and excellent in the garden too.
Unlike some of the larger Sunflowers all these varieties produce pollen and seeds... which is great if you love a garden full of bees, butterflies and birds. You'll find that beneficial insects such as bees and hoverflies enjoy feeding from your sunflowers. Classified as Perfect for Pollinators by the RHS. Later in the summer allow seedheads to form and your garden birds will enjoy the seeds.
Sow Sunflowers in succession for flowers from June to October. For your cut flower patch sow indoors March-April then plant out in May. Sow again when the soil has warmed up outdoors (from May onwards) for a later crop. If you are serious about cut flower production sow a batch of seeds every two weeks.
| Genus | Helianthus |
| Variety | 4 packets of seeds Valentine, Vanilla Ice, Red Sun and Sonja |
| Plant Type | Half Hardy Annuals. Perfect for Pollinators. Cut Flower |
| Height & Spread | Range of sizes from 90cm-150cm tall x 45cm wide (3-5 feet tall x 18 inches wide) |
| Sow Seeds | Sow seeds indoors (at 10-16°C) March-April then plant out in late April and May. Sow outdoors in spring (May) for a later crop of summer flowers. Sow every two weeks for cut flower production. |
| Thin/Plant Out | Allow 45cm (18 inches) between plants. |
| Conditions Required | Sunflowers prefer moist but well drained soil in full sun. Provide sturdy support to prevent damage from wind and heavy rain. Water thoroughly in dry spells. |
| Flower Production | Many long stems with blooms produced from June to October. Each stem is 60-90cm (2-3 feet) long. Each flower head is 8-10cm /3-4 inches across making them perfect for hand tied bouquets. Takes 11-12 weeks from seed to flower. |
| Picking | For cut flowers pick Sunflowers when the first few petals have unfurled. It's best to pick when it's cool, early in the morning or evening, strip most of the leaves from the stem and stand them in deep water for a few hours. Sunflowers have a long vase life, no preservative necessary. |
| Planting Combinations | Sunflowers are some of the most stunning annual flowers you can grow and these varieties are popular because of their colour and outstanding garden performance. These particular flowers are great for cut flowers and especially good for your wildlife garden because they all produce pollen followed by seeds which the birds love. |