Friday Rookie Topic: Sunflowers

Camp

Thanks for point between hot and cold compost piles. I have one of each. I think my problems are also build up in the soil from planting my sunflowers in the same place for three years.

The garden gate is the best place for the sunflowers. Now I just need something that grows well with them; a nice plot of strawberries sounds good.

Do you think I can save my azalea by transplanting it? It's pretty big (5' tall and 3' diameter, but 2/3 dead.

WriterCPA, I successfully moved a 3' azalea and it lived and thrived for many years. Beginner's luck??

I would wait until it cools down. The leaves transpire and loose water, especially in the heat and wind. The roots are suppose to be "shallow" so take as much dirt and root ball as you can. Water well but don't drown. Mulch the root zone but not up to the base of the plant. (Mulching is something I learned on this Forum!!) Prune the truly dead part. You may not get many flowers next year but if it survives and likes its new location, it should rebound in the long run.

Good luck this fall.

camprn wrote:My sunflowers started to pop open a bit today.  

 
We need pictures!

Really enjoying all the info on sunflowers  

I also planted Sunflowers near my Vegetable Garden and also in my Perennial Garden. I thought it would be a wonderful way to encourage bees in my gardens. Not only did I get a lot of bees but I also saw a goldfinch sitting on one of my sunflowers! It was so beautiful but flew away before any pics could be taken.
So next year I will be planting sunflowers again - out of the SFG but near.....

The finches will be back, with all their family.  

Gregrenee, nice pic with the swallowtail! Pretty flowers.

camprn wrote:Gregrenee, nice pic with the swallowtail! Pretty flowers.

Thank you!  The one with the butterfly is from seedsharing on here.  They are not in SFG but I plan to plant a lot more next year now that I know that they work were planted!

Renee

Sunflower pictures

For some reason, the ones we planted in front of the house are shorter than the ones in the backyard.





We named the 15 foot Mammoth by the back fence, "Grandpa."  He has 20 heads that we can count. No idea how we will harvest these. I really hope to save some of the seeds for next year. -- Is that realistic?

I see the power lines above the big one. How close is that sunflower plant to them???

The lower lines are phone and cable and are 3 - 4 away along a horizontal line from the plant to the lines. The power line is about another 6 feet above those. Closer than I would like and a hell of a lot closer than I will ever go to trim it. When it is time to bring this fellow down, we will make sure he is cut to fall away from the lines. But you can see how big he is!

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow morning when the morning glories are open.

OK, since I just spent some ca$h on sunflower seeds in an impulse moment at Walmart, I was inspired to see how to keep my sunflower seeds alive. I planted at least 5 or 6 packages last, summer direct into the garden, and not a single seedling made it. My vigorous squirrel and bird activity is the reason, and I do encourage them, by feeders, etc. because they are fun and pretty.

However, I am going to start my sunflowers indoors for transplanting outside. From what I have read, they dislike transplanting, so intend to use peat pots. I am thinking about 3 weeks before FF date? Anyone do indoors sunflower starting?

You probably meant LF date? I have started them indoors in plastic seed pots and just carefully transplanted them.

sanderson wrote:You probably meant LF date?  I have started them indoors in plastic seed pots and just carefully transplanted them.

Yes, my last FF date is May 1st or 8th, so I figure I will start them mid April inside, hoping to out smart the little seed eaters that got them last year!

They will be strong enough to take care by then!

I love sunflowers, but unfortunately so do the many squirrels that nest in the huge Sycamore trees in my yard and nearby.

I have a bunch of really fat suburban squirrels, but they didn't mess with the 2 volunteer sunflower plants that grew from my birdfeeder offings. What they DID do was ate every one of my carefully planted direct sow sunflower seeds, resulting in zero sunflowers where I planted and wanted them, and 2 where I didn't want or plant them. They were such nice strong plants I let them go, and the pollinators LOVED them! Hence, my renewed passion for them....plus they're pretty.

I'm going to try sunflowers as points of interest along the inside of the fence next to the public sidewalk. So, of course, they won't grow.

sanderson wrote:I'm going to try sunflowers as points of interest along the inside of the fence next to the public sidewalk.  So, of course, they won't grow.

Absolutely

I'm going to try some in buckets where my greenhouse will eventually be. Lots of sun, gravel for drainage, good open area...

Scorpio Rising wrote:

sanderson wrote:I'm going to try sunflowers as points of interest along the inside of the fence next to the public sidewalk.  So, of course, they won't grow.

Absolutely

I grew sunflowers this year. The birds left the seedlings alone. The cardboard tubes stopped the cutworms. The slugs thinned them to one plant per square.  I watered them when the sky didn't. The bees pollinated them. The butterflies visited. The fence kept out the squirrels, and prevented the chipmunks from being a problem. I covered one of the Mammoth flower heads with cheesecloth after it started drooping - left the other, and the other 4 smaller sunflowers, for the birds. The cardinals were getting very bold with the remaining head I'd designated for them, so I harvested 'my' sunflower head and brought it into the garage to remove the seeds. I felt like I did everything right.

Nope. Apparently not. Eew. Lots of little brown caterpillars in the head, seeds with holes in them, and maggots in the stem and fleshy part of the head.   I checked the sunflower posts and found posts about larvae in the stems, but no mention of little brown caterpillars in the seeds. Not sure what, if anything, I was supposed to do to prevent this. Yuck. The birds may think the caterpillars are a juicy garnish, but not me! I don't think I'll grow these in the garden again.

I'm so sorry all your work didn't pan out (except for the maggots). I need to check one of the 5 remaining heads to see if there are any surprises. I probably won't grow them next year either.

I'd be more disappointed if they were one of the plants I started back in February or March. Mostly it's that I wasn't expecting something to go wrong this close to the finish line. I didn't do as much research on growing sunflowers as I did with some of my other plants. None of the "how to harvest" sites I'd skimmed had mentioned a "remove the caterpillars" step.

I guess the silver lining is that it frees up 6 squares for next year. The sour grapes phrase here is  "Well, they're allelopathic anyhow!" Two squares will go to Mexican sunflowers. Two to some other sort of flower. And two for vegetables - maybe another square of favas, and I can try this weird but pleasantly fascinating "Ice Lettuce" stuff again.

Maybe the Birds and Bees sunflowers will tolerate growing behind the short juniper bushes in the front landscape bed.

I grow them for the birds, bees and butterflies.  I started 20 plants; 2 of each, 10 different types, back in the early spring inside because my direct seeded never make it past "Hey, someone left a sunflower seed buried here for me to eat!" stage!  

I put 2 out back by the pool area, they did great (soil heavily amended by dogs).  The remaining out front in the hard pan clay were stunted and small, short plants, small flowers.  Bummer.  But the birds, bees and butterflies still like them!  The 2 out back got knocked over by storms while we were on vacation, and you know how plants kinda try to stand back up, kinda did!  The squirrels have discovered the ones laying on the patio, but that's OK too.  

Hmmm, little worms in there.  Wonder what, and when those got in there?

Still a bummer.  

I love sunflowers...especially for dessert!



https://www.tastemade.com/videos/sunflower-cupcakes
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