Some of the first flowers I remember from my early childhood were sunflowers. They grew wild along the road and had large cheery blossoms.
Unlike the tended flowers in my mother's and neighbors' gardens, sunflowers had no restrictions. They were free for the taking. If you wanted more, you walked down the road a little farther and there they were.
I remember the first year we grew the seed-type sunflowers as a crop. The giant sunflowers had stalks that seemed to reach the sky, and the heads got so large that they drooped down and almost tipped over the plant.
At that time, that was all the interest there was in sunflowers. Either they were weeds or a crop plant grown for seeds.
No more. Sunflowers are all the rage. From tiny varieties used for cutting to the mammoth types, they belong in the garden.
Sunflowers are enjoying a renaissance in popularity unseen since Van Gogh painted his celebrated still life a century ago.
Dozens of new varieties have found their way into gardens and into commercial flower production.
"Sunflower" is the common seed name for the genus Helianthus, which contains about 67 species. It is native to the Americas, although sunflowers are now distributed almost worldwide. Some of the tall-growing forms may attain a height of 12 feet, and the large, solitary blossom is sometimes a meter across.
In spite of the American origins, the sunflower success story started in Russia. The Holy Orthodox Church forbade the use of many oil-rich foods during Lent and Advent. Russians eagerly accepted sunflower oil, because it could be eaten without breaking the laws of the church. Russia soon became the foremost producer of sunflower seed, a title it still holds. The sunflower now ranks second among all seed crops in the world as an important source of edible vegetable oil.
Although you might see their pictures on seed packets or in magazines, now is the time to get up close and personal with the plants and see some of the new varieties. Add them to your list if you would like to include them in your garden next season.
I like sunflowers because they are easy to grow. They tolerate a wide variety of soils. They also need a little scientific neglect. If they are fertilized with too much nitrogen, the stem will be weak and the flower heads will not mature correctly.
Like most native plants, the roots go deep and spread extensively, so they can withstand drought. They should not be water-stressed during the critical seed formation period of about 20 days before and after flowering.
As I gathered wild sunflowers as a child, I noticed they were covered with insects. These creatures usually did no damage, but they made them less desirable for the dinner table centerpiece.
Few insects bother the plants. Occasionally aphids and whiteflies can be a problem, but they usually are controlled by washing the plants with a strong stream of water. Diseases include Sclerotina or white mold, which causes stalk and head rots, mildew, rust and verticillium wilt. Sanitation and crop rotation will control these in the home garden.
Birds can be troublesome on the edible seeded varieties near harvest time. The seeds are exposed, and the large flower head serves as a feeding perch. To deter birds, cover the flower heads with plastic netting, cheesecloth or an old nylon stocking.
Sunflowers grown in home gardens are divided into two categories: decorative and edible seed types. Those grown for their decorative flowers come in many colors and sizes. You can choose dwarf (15 inches high), fully double, golden chrysanthemum types, or 4 foot, pure yellow or white with shades of primrose. The tallest types, 5 to 6 feet, provide the widest color range — yellow, gold, bronze, mahogany red and bicolor blooms. These flowers produce seeds if left on the plant, but the seeds are small.
Modern sunflowers include many new varieties. Flowers range from two-colored or banded, to chestnut red or pale yellow. Multibranched varieties form a quick, annual screen. Dwarf types are suitable for planters and low borders. Cut-flower varieties won't drop pollen on table linens.
Several dozen different cultivars grow well in local gardens. A few popular kinds are listed here.
"Tiayo" has large brown centers and smaller petals around the outside.
"Moon-walker" is a tall plant with pale yellow flowers on top of 8-foot branching stalks. This variety is a good living privacy screen.
"Earthwalker" has brown and terra-colored flowers, with dark centers. The plants are tall, strong-stemmed, vigorous, side-branching with abundant multiheaded flowers.
"Ring of Fire" (AAS Flower Award Winner) is a 5-inch sunflower with golden petal edges and a ring of red surrounding the chocolate brown center. Plants may reach 4 to 5 feet in height, spreading 2 to 3 feet, and produce excellent cut flowers.
"Ikarus" is an excellent sunflower for home gardens. It grows 48 inches tall with multiple branches producing plenty of stately 4-to-6-inch lemon yellow flowers with dark centers.
"Soraya" (2000 AAS Flower Award Winner) produces distinctly orange blooms with dark centers 4 to 6 inches across. This branching plant can produce up to 20 stems per plant. It yields excellent cut flowers with long stems.
"Monet's Palette" makes stunning combinations of single-colored, pollen-free flowers in shades of yellow, with red, orange and yellow bicolored beauties. The 6-foot-tall plants have a strong branching habit for continuous blooms throughout the summer.
Dwarf varieties include "Music Box," a branching, 2 1/2-foot-tall plant. It produces 4-inch flowers in yellow to gold including two-colored blooms.
"Big Smile" grows only 1 1/2 feet tall and produces one 5-inch golden yellow bloom with a brown center. It's a perfect sunflower for containers and flowerbeds. Other new 3-foot dwarfs include "Teddy Bear" and "Floristan." "Silverleaf," one of the tall sunflower varieties, has silver-green foliage and long-lasting, yellow flowers with brown centers.
"Velvet Queen," another tall sunflower, blooms in burgundy, chestnut-red, mahogany and warm bronze.
"Sunrich Lemon" and "Sunrich Orange" grow to 5 feet and don't shed messy pollen when cut for arrangements.
The final sunflower mystery? The daily change of a sunflower to face the sun comes from differential growth of the stem. Auxin, a plant-growth regulator, is more concentrated on the shaded side of a plant when the sunlight breaks it down. The darker side grows faster than the sunlit side so the stem bends toward the sun.
Catch Larry Sagers on the KSL Radio Greenhouse Show with host Don Shafer. It airs Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Sept. 1, they will discuss the many apple varieties that can be grown in Utah.
Send e-mail to features@desnews.com; subject: Larry Sagers