Sunflower heads
By knewfy
@knewfy (82)
United States
August 22, 2010 7:51am CST
I need some help deciding what to do to preserve the sunflower heads from these huge sunflowers that I have. I have not had sunflowers before this year, but this year I planted them on purpose and also have some that grew up wild from the bird feeder seeds from last winter. How do I prepare the sunflower heads for the birds this year?
The enclosed photo is a picture of my sunflower painting that I did last year. I love to paint flowers.
I sold the sunflower painting right away! But this year I want to do another one.
2 people like this
2 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
22 Aug 10
Hello knewfy and welcome to mylot a place full of people wanting to be helpful and friendly. For starter you can cut off the large stem and hang the head up side down to finish drying the seed head. When it is fully dried you can then remove the seeds by rubbing the head. they should come of easy if fully dried. Your picture is very nice. Do you do a lot of painting?
@knewfy (82)
• United States
22 Aug 10
Thank you for the information and also for the compliment. Yes I love to paint. I used to paint a lot more when I was young and fresh out of college but now I seem to be caught up in other pursuits as well, mostly crafty stuff. I have a shop on etsy. I don't know if I can publish the address here in this comment but I will try. http://www.kathyscraftshop.etsy.com
@peavey (16936)
• United States
6 Sep 10
I do it the same way as deebomb. Make sure you wait until the seeds are mature, though. I've cut seed heads only to find there was only the shell ready. When the back of the flower head turns brown, it should be ready. You might have to cover them with something to keep the birds and squirrels away until you're ready to cut them. I hung mine in paper bags one year, but I don't recommend that. It took them longer to finish drying.
