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The Beauty of Sunflowers©

By: Arlene Wright Correll

Native to North America, the genus is Helianthus and the Sunflower was used for food and processed to make hair oil by early North American Indians. Over the years meal from processed seed was used for livestock food. The seeds are a wonderful source of 11 minerals plus calcium and whole seeds, today, are used for oil, bird seed and snacks because 50% fat composition is mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid. I consider them to be edible flowers even though the seeds are what we finally eat.

Every year I add them to my garden as they make great backdrop flowers growing 8 to 12 feet tall. I used to dry out the seeds, but now that the kids are gone I just leave them for the birds.

I often plant the dwarf forms of sunflowers because their average height of 25 inches creates a lovely and colorful space anywhere I put them in my garden. Matter of fact, I just planted a whole section of them by our upper pond in the "Cottage Garden".

You can start sunflower seeds in 4 inch peat pots and then plant pot and all once they are about 6 to 8 inches tall. This will give you sunflower blooms faster and taller. I generally just plant the seeds into the soil.

Sunflowers seeds can be sown basically anywhere and the seeds take about 10 to 14 days to germinate and about 60 to 70 days to bloom. Seeds should be planted 15 to 24 inches apart and in the full sun. Sunflower seeds should be planted into moistened soil about 1 to 2 inches deep, but never deeper. You must weed well around sunflowers for the first 5 or 6 weeks because weeds are a big problem for sunflowers. For the sunflowers in your garden you can control the weeds with mulching and hand weeding.

Sunflower roots spread far and go deep so they can withstand drought, but need to be watered regularly until the seeds take hold. Do not water stress your sunflowers by watering 20 days prior and after flowering.

If your sunflowers get white mold or rot on the stalk and heads then you have a problem called Sclerotina. Aphids and the sunflower head moth (which is a major problem) are another common problem. In a small garden I have never noticed these. However, if you are growing fields of them for profit then these are what you may have to deal with.

Should you be harvesting for profit then birds may be a major problem also. Here is zone 6 our sunflowers can be harvested in Mid-September and I just cut off the head and about 12 to 15 inches of the stalk of the few I harvest, leaving the major part of them for the birds. These I hang upside down to dry in a dry, well ventilated, insect and rodent free place. Sometimes I put cheese cloth around the head of the sunflower or a paper bag and occasionally I will use recycled mesh onion bags or orange bags around the sunflower to catch the seeds as the dry and drop off. Should you decide to ripen on the stalk then cheese cloth, nylon netting or the recycled mesh bags will be required to deter the birds from stealing all your seeds. Not all the seeds will drop off and once the seed it dried it will easily rub off the flower head.

Here is how I roast my harvested seeds.

I put my raw mature unshelled seeds in pan with 2 quarts of water and ¼ to ½ cup of kosher salt bringing it to a boil and then I either let it simmer for two hours or soak in the salt solution overnight. Then I drain them and spread them out to dry on absorbent paper. Old paper bags work well for this. Once dry I put them on a cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. I stir occasionally so all seeds dry well. Once you take them out of the oven you can add 1 tsp of melted butter to one cup of seeds, stirring to coat, put on an absorbent town and salt to taste.

Yes, Sunflowers have beauty, but they taste good and are healthy for you.

Author Resource:-> For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, "All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site."

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