We have a blooming sunflower
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (326093)
Rockingham, Australia
February 9, 2019 11:36pm CST
Vince has a particular fondness for sunflowers and sweet peas. I know The Horse (@TheHorse) also likes planting the odd sunflower and watching it grow and bloom. As they are fast-growing and relatively easy to grow, they are good plants to use to introduce children to the joys of gardening.
Vince planted a few seeds some time ago and now the first flower has appeared. It’s in the photo above. The plant isn’t very tall but already has a heap of buds on it. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) always look bright and happy to me and of course, birds love the seeds.
Here are some interesting points about sunflowers:
• Typical height is about 3 metres with the record being a mighty 9.17 metres (30.1 ft).
• What is normally called the flower is actually the flower head.
• It is the state flower of Kansas, the national flower of Ukraine and one of the city flowers of Kitakyushu, Japan.
• Sunflowers were worshipped by the Incas who viewed it as a symbol for the sun.
• There are a great number of cultivars which include a range of colours both for the outer petals and the central disc.
Do you have sunflowers growing in your region?
33 people like this
34 responses
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
10 Feb 19
Sun flower grows here too, we eat the seeds, my parrot loves it too. Your post reminded me of that Sophia Lorraine movie. Vince's flower is lovely.
6 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
10 Feb 19
@JudyEv it's possible they harvest the seed from that. I buy roasted and Molo my parrot eats it as is pet shop bought, I kilo is more expensive than rice lol! I'll try sowing it to see if it will grow
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Feb 19
@louievill My mother planted some near her apple trees in the hope that the parrots would eat the sunflower seeds and leave the apples alone.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 19
It is a very strong looking plant isn't it although it isn't very tall. I loved the fields full of sunflowers in France. I'd never seen them grown as crops before. We had to wait days to find a paddock with their faces turned towards us.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95648)
• Marion, Ohio
10 Feb 19
I am planting some when it gets warm enough out this year. I love them too.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 19
I would think New Zealand would be getting a bit cold for them but they are quite tough plants.
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Feb 19
Yes. I have been to Kansas and they are all over the place.
5 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Feb 19
@JudyEv They are weeds in Kansas alongside roads.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
10 Feb 19
I have never been successful at growing sunflowers. Even if I buy seeds for the giant version, they only reach half the height and the flowers are not big. Saddens me a little to see how others are able to grow them.
I do have a very sunny spot in my yard and am going to try again this year. They are beautiful flowers and I really love them. So, if at first you don't succeed, you try try again.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Feb 19
This one is growing at the rate of knots. I think Vince must have planted it straight into some manure or whatever.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
10 Feb 19
We would have to go far out to find them and the nearest are in Torres de Elorz where they have huge fields of them.
They are almost always big and tall and awesome to contemplate.
Lovely image of the sunflower its one of the best flowers to cheer you up.
2 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
10 Feb 19
@JudyEv
They are so impressive to be by as well powerful to be in a field of them taking care not to tread on them.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130084)
• India
10 Feb 19
What a healthy plant, the flower the bud prize worthy
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16544)
• China
10 Feb 19
Over here sunflowers are common plants too.Their flower discs can be used to drop blood pressure.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16544)
• China
11 Feb 19
@JudyEv It is just the flower disc without seed.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Feb 19
@changjiangzhibin89 I didn't know that. It is good to know these things.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 19
They seem to be easy to grow which is always a bonus.
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 19
It is growing very quickly and has a lot of buds on it.
@snowy22315 (170419)
• United States
10 Feb 19
Yes, I like sunflowers..Some people grow sunflowers here but not too many.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (170419)
• United States
11 Feb 19
@JudyEv It's warm enough..they just aren't super popular. In the summer I saw a big field of them..they were being sold.and people were taking pics with them. II wish I had known about it,in advance I would have stopped. People were taking pics with them. They even grow sunflowers in the north.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Feb 19
@snowy22315 I wonder if there is some reason they're not popular.
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
17 Feb 19
I lived in Kansas and saw a lot of sunflowers. They were smaller than the big 10 foot tall ones we grow in the north. I will be planting sunflowers when the ice and snow disappears and its warm again... Love your photo of the flower and the critter that probably ate it.....
1 person likes this
@SophiaMorros (5046)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
10 Feb 19
Many of the major highway exits around here have flowers planted in what would otherwise be unused space. My favourites are the ones filled with sunflowers. I like most flowers but sunflowers strike me as being particularly cheerful.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326093)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Feb 19
@SophiaMorros Vince's is surprisingly short to be blooming but it is growing by the day.
1 person likes this
@SophiaMorros (5046)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
11 Feb 19
@JudyEv all the ones I've seen have been that variety that's only a meter or so tall.
1 person likes this
