Sunflower can be cut when you first see the ray petals begin to push out of the flower disk. Ideally, the petals are at right angle (90 degrees) to the disk of the flower. ProCut Orange at perfect flowering stage for cutting. We recommend that the plants not be stressed at cutting time.
Perennial sunflowers are herbaceous, and new growth appears in the spring. Trim the new growth back by half in mid to late spring. Prune the plant again in mid to late summer. Annual sunflowers can also be cut back in late spring.
At the end of the season, it's easy to harvest sunflower seeds to dry for re-planting, baking up for a tasty snack, and re-purposing into suet cakes to feed the birds in the winter months. Sunflowers are ready to harvest when their foliage turns yellow, the petals die down and the seeds look plump.
With sharp scissors or pruners, cut the head off the plant (about 6 inches below the flower head). Place in a container to catch loose seeds.
Avoid pruning after the first blooms appear.
Late summer blooming types should be pruned back when they reach between 1.5 to 2 feet (0.5 to 0.6 m) in height, because they will recover in a few weeks and bloom regardless of the cuts.
Remove sunflower root balls from the soil.
Once dislodged, sunflower root balls should be removed from the soil as much as possible, as it will be hard to plant around the tough roots. The woody root and stalk won't compost very quickly, so consider burning them instead.
Annual sunflowers bloom during summer and into autumn. Sow new plants every few weeks and you'll enjoy non-stop flowers until the first frost. Perennial sunflowers bloom for a period of 8-12 weeks with some beginning as early as July and others finishing as late as October.
This means the stem loses its water tension and so begins to droop. To prevent this or to revive drooping sunflowers, cut about an inch off of each stem at a 45 degree angle and place the flowers back in cold, fresh water. You should begin to see them perk back up within 24 hours!
Many flowers carry the name “sunflower” that are, in fact, completely different species of plants. Some sunflowers are annual and survive only one season, and others are perennials that will return every year. All perennial and annual sunflowers produce brilliant flowers that are a highlight of any late-summer garden.
Sunflowers continue to be an important oilseed crop worldwide. Many of them are used for birdseed but most are processed into vegetable oil. The green stalks are chopped like silage and used as cattle feed. The seeds and green foliage are favorite foods of many birds, mammals, insects, and butterflies.
On the other hand, though, you'll want to refrain from harvesting sunflowers too early just to avoid these pitfalls. If you don't wait long enough to harvest a sunflower for its seeds, the seeds won't have grown big enough, and they won't have enough meat.
Once the flower has faded the sunflower head will have lots of seeds in the centre and these are a great source of food for birds, alternatively you can harvest the seeds and grow them again next year.
Sunflower seeds are easy to collect and store for planting next year. Just let the flowers go to seed, then harvest the seeds and keep them in a cool, dry place. Saving sunflower seeds is a great way to get free seeds for your garden, and it's also a fun project for kids.
Young sunflowers should be provided with fairly regular water, but still prefer a soil dry-down between waterings. After being established, sunflowers are quite drought tolerant. Water deeply, and let soil dry down before watering again.
With proper care, sunflowers should last from six to twelve days. To maximize the vase life, look for flowers that are just starting to fully open.
Sunflowers bloom from summer to early fall with the peak season being in the middle of summer. Although it is mainly a summer flower, you can consider it a fall flower as it blooms until the middle of fall. The beautiful flowers turn towards the sun throughout the day and keep blooming when the sunlight is strong.
After pollination and petal drop, sunflower can withstand temperatures as low as 25 F with only minor damage. Twenty-five degree temperatures at the bud stage will often damage leaf and stalk below the bud and seeds will not develop. Easily damaged by light frosts in 28-32F range.
The allelopathic characteristics of sunflowers are toxic to some plants, potatoes being one of them. This process inhibits germination and can stunt the growth of potatoes. They also compete for nutrients in the soil. Potatoes should be planted well away from sunflowers to avoid them affecting one another.
The short answer is that it's not too late. Consider that most ornamental and cut-flower sunflower varieties flower 60 days after planting on average. So, for most years, if seeds are planted by Aug. 15, you can enjoy these gorgeous flowers from late September to October.
Most sunflowers grow quite tall and may cast shade on other plants. The short growing season of between 70 to 100 days allows for planting throughout most gardening zones. Well-draining soil is essential.
At night, in its absence, the sunflowers face east again, anticipating the sun's return. They do this until they get old, when they stop moving. Then, always facing east, the old flowers await visits from insects that will spread their pollen and make new sunflowers. Those flowers too, will follow the sun.