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Sunflowers must be one of the easiest flowers to grow. Loved by bees, birds and squirrels.
Sowing Time: March, April & May
Plant: April, May & June
Flowers: June, July, August & September
Cut back: October & November
I love adding sunflowers to my garden, slugs, snails, bees, birds and squirrels love them. They come in yellows, rusty red, green and white, various heights and are big, bright and bold. They also make excellent cut flowers.
Annual sunflowers bloom from summer right through until autumn. Once sown they can take 11-18 weeks to flower. I like to sow sunflower seeds directly into the ground over a couple of weeks, so they all come up at different times, giving me a longer display.
Sunflowers like a sunny, sheltered spot, good soil and need watering regularly. I've placed multiple tree posts around the garden as the birds like to sit on them while surveying their domain, plus it's windy here in Suffolk, so I find the tree posts great for typing multiple sunflowers too. It's best to start tying them in as soon as they start to grow, and not waiting until they are fully grown, by then it's normally too late and the sunflower will be leaning over.
Sunflowers can grow to 50cm and some grow well over 3m, so check before you buy. Sow the seeds in pots from April and plant out when all risk of frost has passed, in Suffolk that is usually mid May. Prepare the soil well and add plenty of organic matter to the planting hole. Keep your sunflowers well watered and feed weekly to encourage them to grow tall. Last year I gave them a tomato feed and they came up beautifully.
The benefit of growing in pots is, you get to put the flower exactly where you want it, or can fill a gap that may not show up to later in the growing season.
Sunflowers are sun worshippers. They do best in fertile soil in a sheltered spot, but will also do well in containers. However, if you want your sunflower to grow as tall as possible, put them in the ground.
Sow sunflower seeds from April to May. Place one in a 10cm pot of multi-purpose compost. Plant out into the garden when all risk of frost has passed, for the coldest places in the UK this can be as late as early June.
Keep the sunflowers well watered until they're ready to plant out. Prepare the soil by removing weeds and add some organic matter. Plant the sunflowers at the same depth as the pot they are coming out of. Water well and stake plants with a bamboo cane or similar.
Annual sunflowers need plenty of water. Feed them with a tomato feed just before flowering.
Once they have stopped flowering, leave the head in place so the wildlife can enjoy the seeds. Once all the seeds have gone, pull the entire plant out and put onto your compost heap. I tend to leave the stem in over winter as bugs like to hide in them, which brings the blue tits in hunting for food.
Once the seeds are nice and dry on the sunflower head, pick some out of the head and store them in a cool dry place over winter. Then start the process of growing them all over again.
When I harvest the seeds, I'll pop a few into the ground there and then, as this is how nature would do it naturally. Others I keep to grow in pots or to sow directly into the ground in the spring.
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