Origin of the Sunflower
The Sunflower is native to North America and was first grown as a crop by Indigenous Tribes over 4,500 years ago. Cultivating the sunflower from its original bushy, multi-headed type, to make the present single stemmed plant with the large head. Each booming sunflower is a composite flower since each head has anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 flowers.
What is a Composite Flower?
A flower that is made up of multiple simpler flowers
Traditional Uses
- Milling for flour or meal production to make bread and cakes
- Roasting the seeds for snacks
- Extracting the oil for cooking
- Oils and pigments used as sunscreen or for the basis for purple and black dye
- The stem was used for construction due to how sturdy it is
- A wide variety of medicinal uses
When European explorers came to North America in around 1510 they saw the Natives planting and using sunflowers so they shipped seeds back to Europe, where they were spread around the continent and into Asia as well.
Presently, we see the market for sunflowers being for their seeds and oil.
Famous Sunflowers in Art
Looking at the painting we may see that these sunflowers look slightly different from normal ones. This is not coincidence but is actually due to the fact that they are mutants!
Image to the right: "Allotment with Sunflower" painted by Vincent Van Gogh in 1887
Life Cycle
This time lapse video allows you to watch as the seed is planted, germinates, sends out its leaves, and eventually blooms!
Life History
For the best growing sunflowers they need to be planted and tended to properly
You want to plant the seeds in the spring anytime between early-March and early-May. They germinate when the soil temperature reaches around 70 to 85° F, so it is best to plant when the ground temperature is around 60 to 70° F (or around 3 weeks after the last frost).
Planted generally at a depth of at least 1/2 an inch, and around 6 inches apart.
The ideal soil is slightly acidic has a pH between 6.0 to 7.5. Adding nutrients through compost or fertilizer, is also a good option.
Sunflowers have a lot of natural oils so they need to be watered consistently for germination to occur. After that it can be less frequent. About once a week, but still focus watering 3 to 4 inches around the root zone
Varieties
Autumn Beauty
Chocolate Cherry
Teddy Bear
Russian Mammoth
What Threatens Sunflowers?
Many pests love sunflowers but often times the use of insecticides on sunflowers can prevent the pollination done by insect pollinators on which sunflowers heavily rely on. Only if severe damage is done should a sunflower be treated with an insecticide. Disease isn't as common in many new sunflower varieties due to developed resistance, however a disease outbreak should be handled by removing infected plants.
Sunflower Fun Fact
Sunflowers can track the movement of the sun
Heliotropism- A process done by young sunflowers where at sunrise the blossoms will face east and follow the sun throughout the day and be facing west by sunset! When the sunflower gets older the head gets heavier and harder to move and will then usually stay stationary facing the east.
Recipes to Try
A quick and easy video about making sunflower butter at home. Sunflower butter has more minerals and significantly less saturated fat than peanut butter!
References
Credits:
Created with images by schankz - "Sunflowers grow in the field" • agneskantaruk - "Man rakes the seeds of grass in fresh soil."