Vast Solar Factories To Be Built in the Spring

Nothing compares to the massive seed production of the giant, or Siberian, or striped sunflower. The sunflower is a compound flower, so each flowerlet becomes a seed, and the pollen is so attractive to bees.

The seed-head is white at first, as the flowerlets fall off, then takes on the swirls of grey as the seeds become mature. Squirrels and birds love the seeds, but squirrels will even eat the flower. The seedhead has a musty, sweet odor.

The plant easily grows to 10 feet with broad leaves, so it makes a great screen. We are backing up our bamboo fencing with the sunflowers and backing up that row with Butterfly bushes. If the sunflower seeds are bought by the pound instead of packet, the screen can be thick.

The stalks are thick enough to saw down when they are done. I leave them up for bird perches in the winter. Birds love to rest on relatively low vegetation to preen and watch for food.

Sunflowers also benefit the soil it has penetrated with deep taproots by slowly rotting the roots over the winter.

Sunflowers, pumpkins, and corn are heavy feeders, because they are generous producers. To keep them happy, I provide plenty of water and organic matter. They need mulching, which helps keep the water in, and they signal a need for more water by drooping their leaves.

Sunflowers attract grasshoppers and other insects, but a healthy plant will shake off the damage and grow past it. The fragile fancy sunflowers have trouble getting past the predation, so I do not care to plant them unless they are discounted 90%.

Sunflowers convert solar power more efficiently than corn, and corn is the champion. Moreover, sunflowers are tops on the list of nutrition - protein, vitamins, and oil.

In New Ulm my squirrels were not eating from the cute corn feeder because they got into the garage and ate from the sunflower bag in the plastic garbage can. I left the lid off. When I found the criminal in the act I secured the lid. He had a tantrum, leaving a deposit on top of the lid and a mess in the loft (my Garage Mahal). No wonder the squirrels looked so sleek and well fed - they were well fed with the best food of all.





Apart from the obvious bird and insect life, sunflowers have to be massive centers of life. They provide leaf and stem surfaces for spiders and other creatures. They dig into the soil and make deals with the soil creatures below.

Sunflowers are real divas. Their plants exude chemicals that keep other plants from thriving near them. That is because they know it is in their best interest to hog the soil and and the sunlight. Millions of years ago, they became sentient and figured this out, I am happy to report. (OK, I am kidding.) They were created to prosper in the sun and harbor all kinds of life, above and below.

Believers know this is God's design and will. Unbelievers cannot grasp it.

Sunflowers Are So Much Fun in the Garden

This dwarf sunflower is called Sunny Smile.

I have grown many kinds of sunflowers, but my favorite is the Russian Mammoth or striped seed sunflower. The larger the plant, the greater the diameter of the seedhead, the larger the seeds.

Two rows of sunflowers of growing now, chiefly for to feed the birds and squirrels. Sunflowers have a honey-like aroma. Bees are working the flowers right now.I let the plants go to  seed - if the squirrels allow it. Sometimes they chew off the bloom and eat that. We have seen squirrels bounce on sunflower plants as they pull seeds from finished disk.

A sunflower is like a cheap motel, with all kinds of residents. Grasshoppers will stay on a leaf and chew away, doing nothing to slow down the plant. Spiders set up shop to trap some food. Bees arrive for pollen, birds and squirrels for seed.

I leave the stalks up for the winter, so birds can perch safely on them above the snow, looking for food.

The seed companies like to market all kinds of sunflowers, all colors and sizes, almost like car models. "Have you grown Sunset sunflowers, yellow and brown?" They cost more and produce fewer seeds, tiny seeds.

Mammoth sunflowers are ideal for birds and for human snacks.
They are loaded with minerals and protein and oil.

I plan to use mammoth sunflowers to screen the back fence, where No-Man's Land separates us from the homes on Joye street. The sun may be limited, but the sunflowers will spread out and grab whatever they can. I have soaker hose out to that location so I can easily add one link. They are heavy feeders and demand plenty of water to grow.

Buying pounds of sunflower seeds is a great way to do some interesting things. like create a living screen. Or they can form a square around children's equipment, so a green fort grows up around their slide or climber. Dig shallow trenches and sow in abundance. Water daily. The results are spectacular. The little bit of work is worthwhile when a child disappears inside the fort and pops out to surprise his parents.

Crepe myrtle may bloom again.

I was studying my gardening in the South book when I discovered that pruning the crepe myrtle may result in a new set of blooms. I was interested in the soft branches for the compost; I also wanted to shape the plant, which threatens to engulf the mailbox. No one ever figures out how big a plant will be in the future. Proof - we have two trees in the backyard, growing into each other.

If we prune now, the bush will send down more roots, create new growth, and possibly bloom again for the fall. The full blooms lasted for weeks and have not completely finished going to seed. Crepe myrtles in our neighborhood grow with pink, raspberry, or purple blooms.

This crepe myrtle should be shaped like a vase,
the form used for most hybrid tea roses.

Roses Are in Bed - Sunflowers To Be Planted

Free PDF - The Wormhaven Gardening Book

I left room for more roses next spring, when I will order them and plant early. That is the best way to get the desired roses blooming early. I planted bare-root roses first, bargains from a shopping channel. Then I found an enormous nursery near us for shrub roses full of blooms, ready to be planted. They are all doing well and will grace the altar this Sunday - red, pink, and white blooms.

My helper said, "Don't cut all the blooms off!" I was pruning the old blooms away. I said, "I am pruning to get even more flowers." I have to fill him in on John 15:1-10. We often talk about the Christian faith.

Some of my favorite roses are: Olympiad (red), Double Delight (bi-color, aromatic), Fragrant Cloud (very aromatic), Peace and its blood relatives, Queen Elizabeth, and Mr. Lincoln.

Mrs. Ichabod wanted to see all the roses out front, so I was unable to start on the south side expansion I planned. However, mammoth sunflowers at Park Seed gave me an idea bout how to use the sun and my leftover mulch.

Several packages are on the way. These are mammoth or Russian striped sunflower seeds. The plants can grow very tall (10 feet) and produce enormous disks full of seed.  My helper has two small children, so I gave him two sample packets in advance.

Sunflowers and corn use the sun's energy more efficiently than any other plants. Both demand rich soil and the cool feet/moist soil provided by mulch. In Midland I used pumpkin plants for "mulching" corn. They spread out to quell weed growth, shade the ground, and hold moisture in. Pumpkins are also hogs for water, so that area had to be watered often.

In Phoenix I grew a sunflower fort, using rows of sunflowers to hide the children's playset behind four walls of giant sunflowers. Nothing delights children more than hiding in deep undergrowth and popping out to say "Boo!"

We will probably dig a couple of trenches to put in several rows of sunflowers, covered with wood mulch. In New Ulm I left the stalks up for the winter. My mother thought that was untidy. I pointed out how much the birds loved to sit safely on stalks to look for food. Besides that, the roots slowly rot into the soil over the winter and improve the soil, with the help of soil creatures (starring the earthworm, the work shared by many unseen heroes).

Sunflower seed is so inexpensive and productive that I can plant spots in various locations and see what happens. We have a deep back yard (for an urban area) that allows for some in the back, where the grass alley separates our house from the one on Joye Street.

Who will get the seed disks? Squirrels will eat some of the flowers before they produce. Once the seeds ripen, squirrels and birds will compete to harvest them. Children on our block will probably ask for some disks. There is nothing like holding one of the aromatic seed disks and admiring the artistic rows of seeds.

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Plan for Sunflower Season.
Creation and Fibonacci Numbers

By Norma Boeckler

Mammoth sunflowers are also called Russian and striped. These make great eating for humans after roasting in the oven, but birds and squirrels like them raw. They are one of the most nutritious products of the garden.

Most people use black oil sunflowers for bird food. The seeds can be planted, too, since they are least expensive in big bags.

I used to buy mammoth sunflower seeds in large packages from Harris Seeds. Larger packages are hard to resist.

This seed disk is not unusual. In New Ulm  I left the stalks up all winter so the birds could perch on them while winter foraging. They like to be just above the ground to look for food. The plant slowly rots into the soil. The decay feeds the soil creatures, especially earthworms, enriching and loosening the soil.

Flowers and Fibonacci Numbers

Long before the spirograph drawing toy, God created the same patterns in sunflower seed rows. The topic of Finonacci numbers is fascinating by itself.

This plant is only six feet tall but the seed disk is gigantic. The sunflower is a compound bloom, so each flower-let needs pollinating. The bees enjoy helping out, so there is quite a show to watch. The plant itself hosts plenty of visitors, so birds may land to feast on bugs chewing the leaves or hiding in the shade.

Sunflowers are often used as a temporary wall, an inexpensive way to provide privacy or shade. Unlike bamboo, sunflowers will not spread and occupy the entire lawn. Children like to hide in a fortress created with four walls of sunflowers.

Biggest sunflower disk contest:

Children like to see who can grow the biggest sunflower. Each plant needs plenty of space around it and as much sun as possible.

For extra growth, dig a hole first and fill it with compost, manure, or organic material. Put the best soil on top and plant the seed there. Once the plant begins, use dead grass, leaves, or newspaper to create mulch, which will hold in moisture, shade the root zone, and feed the soil creatures. Earthworms love newspaper roofs over their heads.

Sunflowers need plenty of water. They are as needy as corn and pumpkins. Their leaves will droop when they need more moisture. Water is the way they take up minerals from the soil, so that will give them more growth and bigger disks. Solar energy draws the moisture out while feeding the plant. Photosynthesis is a wonder we take for granted each day.