Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) Seeds
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a North American native wildflower that has been domesticated to create many different garden varieties.
Sunflower 'Autumn Beauty' is a beautiful mix of tall sunflowers in warm shades of yellow, gold, bronze-orange and burgundy-red. The flowers vary in size up to 6" across. The plants are branching.
Sunflower is a host plant for many butterfly species, including Painted Lady, Bordered Patch, Gorgone Checkerspot, and Silvery Checkerspot.
Sunflower 'Vanilla Ice' has 3-4" pale yellow to creamy white flowers with dark centers. It's a branching variety that blooms in abundance. Moderate height and small flowers help it fit comfortably into the border with other plants.
Cut flower expert, Sarah Raven, recommends Vanilla Ice for hand-tied bunches. For bushier plants, pinch out the tips at 10" tall.
Sunflower 'Chocolate Cherry' has 5-8" wide, deep burgundy flowers with dark chocolate centers. The plants are nicely branched.
Chocolate Cherry is lovely at the back of the border. It also makes a great cut flower. Plant bushy annuals like rudbeckia , four o'clock , cosmos and zinnia around the base of sunflowers to hide the leggy stems.
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' produces many soft lemon-yellow flowers with dark chocolate centers. The flowers are 4-5" in diameter.
Sunflower 'Lemon Queen' is known for being especially good for attracting bees and beneficial insects . Sunflowers add height to the garden, and the ripening seeds attract birds.
Sunflower 'Velvet Queen' has 4-6" wide, mahogany-red flowers with near-black centers. The plants are well-branched.
Velvet Queen is a good plant for the back of the border. The dark flowers recede into the distance, making the border appear larger. It's also nice when paired with yellow sunflowers for a bold contrast.
Sunflower 'Teddy Bear' (Helianthus annuus)
Sunflower 'Teddy Bear' is a dwarf variety with 4-6" wide, double, golden- yellow flowers with a green eye. The plants produce multiple blooms on each stem.
Children love Teddy Bear sunflowers! This is a must-have for a child's garden. The compact plants can be grown in containers, as a short hedge, or as a unique foundation planting. Also known as Sunflower 'Dwarf Sungold'.
Sunflower 'Mammoth Grey Stripe' is the ever-popular variety for gardeners who wish to grow their own sunflower seeds for eating or attracting wildlife.
Mammoth Grey Stripe grows 8-10' tall with 10" wide, bright yellow flowers. It's a good choice for growing on the north end of the vegetable garden (where the sunflowers won't shade the vegetables).
Sunflower 'Taiyo' is a beautiful variety with 10" wide, golden-yellow flowers that have chocolate and burnt orange centers. The petals are short and well-formed.
Taiyo is a uniform variety that is recommended for cut flowers . Each plant produces one flower, and cutting encourages more blooms. Taiyo comes from Japan where the name means "Sun".
Sunflower 'Moonshine' has light lemon-yellow petals surrounding a velvety black center.
Moonshine is a naturally branching variety that produces multiple blooms. It was bred for cut flowers. It's lovely at the back of the border where it grows to a manageable 5 feet tall.