In the Garden ~ Sunflowers

 

 

               If you have recently driven by The Oaks Bed and Breakfast, and caught sight of our garden, you will easily be able to see that we love flowers.  All kinds of flowers are in bloom right now and we cannot seem to get enough.  Today for “In the Garden” I wanted to focus on the Sunflowers.  Now I’m the first to admit that when we planted these beauties the first year I thought they were going to be these beautiful, three foot tall or so  flowers that we could use to do cut flower arrangements for the rooms.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would grow to be what they are today. 

 

               I’m sure a lot of their height and proliferation is due to cross pollination.  After all the pollinating insects love our flowers.  You can find bees, butterflies and other winged insects flying around the garden finding all the best places to gather up pollen and spread that goodness around.  Our sunflowers have taken on a life of their own and I can only hope that they continue to do amazing as the years progress.

 

               This year I was a little more intentional with my flowers, believe it or not, and actually planted some new varieties.  Alas, I only see one new variety growing this year, and I partially think that is due to a huge rain that happened right after planting.  I think the water washed the beds out a little too much and then the birds swooped in to claim the uncovered seeds.

 

               Needless to say, the majority of our blooms are return plants from self-seeding.  We still have a few varieties that growing, I just wish from previous years, I had labeled them a little better when saving seeds from the heads.   This year, I will be much more intentional with my system for seed saving so that I can produce a larger variety of blooms for guests and neighbors to enjoy. 

 

               Sunflowers have a short growing season each year, right at about 2-3 months.  As you watch them grow you can see how the heads follow the sun throughout the day.  Nature is truly amazing to watch and experience at how it adapts and changes as time progresses.  So much so, that once the heads are fully developed they will face down and east permanently to protect the seeds from solar radiation. 

 

               Since their growing season is so quick you can direct sow seeds every few weeks to ensure you have flowers all season long and into the fall.  Many people who have pastures can plant sunflowers to attract wildlife such as dove, to prepare for hunting season later in the year.  Sun flowers provide food for wildlife and pollinators alike throughout the dryer summer months, and can help support your actual garden that you use for food.

 

               You can grow a variety of sunflowers in your garden depending on what you are looking to support.  Cut flowers have been engineered to not leave any messy pollen behind and come in a variety of colors.  The size of the heads vary from 3 inches to 12 inches depending on the type of flower.  One of the best things about growing sunflowers is their ability to return macronutrients to the soil. 

               Some of the varieties that we have are Honey Bear sunflowers, that have more petals in the center than traditional sunflowers.  Three of our traditional sunflowers are Chocolate Gold, Little Becka, and Strawberry Blond among others.  Our smallest producing flower is the Mexican Sunflower, that blooms out a beautiful reddish orange bloom.  These are prolific and I secretly want to spread them along the roadside of county roads to help increase the pollinator population.

 

               If you have never tried to grow sunflowers before, just toss some seeds out or get a bird feeder along with feed that has black oil sunflowers in the mix.  Move it around your yard and see what pops up.  You will not be disappointed in your sunflower production.

In the Garden ~ Saving Seeds

 

    If you happen to garden a lot like we do one of the expenses you can always expect is the purchase of new seeds. While it can be fun and exciting to look through the online catalog or visit the store where they sell them in bulk, sometimes you want to save the money and save some seeds.  We are not perfect in anyway at saving seeds but we have learned a few tips and tricks over the years.  Ever since our first planting, we have not purchased any new zinnia seeds to sow into our garden.  We only use what we grow and so far it has worked out pretty well for us.

Zinnia Seeds

    Zinnia's I feel like are the easiest seeds to save.  You only have to deal with a little bit of ugly before you can really get down to saving the seeds.  One tip we learned, is to let the flower heads dry on the stalk.  Since learning this we haven't tried another way, such as cutting and then drying.  I will say by doing this we have created some new zinnia colors from where we started.  If you are looking to keep your flowers pure, maybe buy seeds every year, but if you want to create something new, save your seeds and see what sprouts up in the Spring.  The cross pollination during the the growing season, is how we "create" new colors.  Mother Nature is amazing.  We provide the space and nature does the rest.  I love waiting to see what nature will leave us, the next year.

    Mexican Sunflowers are also an easy one to save the seeds from.  The beauty of this one, the flowers bloom in succession so while one is at the end of the life cycle, another one is already blooming and keeping things beautiful.  Once the blooms start they have a pretty long life span, with new blooms and flowers for the whole season.  I also feel like this one spreads the easiest as it starts to loose its seeds.  So watch out if you plant them, catch those seeds early unless you want to find these sunflowers in locations you did not plan.  We sure have and sometimes roll with it while others we move to a new location.  The Mexican Sunflower seeds are small and easily moved by the wind, which makes them able to move to a new location with ease.  They are pretty hardy as well, since we have taken some up and replanted, or they have grown in not the best location.  

    The cone flowers we have planted in the garden, we do not typically save the seeds; rather they mange to spread on their own.  For example, if you want to grow some in a new area, you could start from seeds at the end of the season or wait until the time is right to split the plant and move to a new location.  We started out with three plants, and now have probably around ten.  I think next year, I'm going to move some to another area in the yard away from where the main garden is located to see how they grow.

    Regular sunflowers, are also pretty easy to save the seeds from.  We typically let the heads die on the stalk, cut and then dry them out to save the seeds.  This is a longer process, but makes it so the birds do not eat all of your seeds before you get them.  After all what bird is not looking for free food.  Each year I plan to take pictures of the heads as they bloom, so that I can match their seeds for saving.  While I did manage to do that, I forgot to "attach" them to the stalk so I can know which one goes with which.  After they lose their petals, its a challenge to determine the color.  The only reason why I would want to know what color goes with what head is if I planned to sell the seeds.  Right now it's not that important to me, since I just mix up my planting for the spring anyway.  

    These are just a few of the flowers we have growing that make seeds to replant for the spring months, or try again now for early fall color.  Try saving your seeds and share with friends and family all that you grow.