Johnsons 21024 Flower Seeds, Sunflower Black Magic F1, Dark Red

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Reaching a staggering height of about 4.5m, which is taller than some trees, the aptly-named ‘Giraffe’ is a giant sunflower. Sunflowers make long-lasting cut flowerstoo.The smaller-flowered types, with their abundant blooms over many months,are particularly popular with flower arrangers. The more unusual colours, including chocolate brown, cream and dark red, are particularly sought-after. How to choose sunflowers About 90cm tall, ‘Garden Statement’ is a relatively new cultivar that is rapidly gaining popularity. Underneath, I talk you through my favourite 20 sunflower varieties, selected for a wide choice of flower forms and colours, that can be found easily here in the UK. This cultivar seems to be especially attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. 10) H. annuus‘Kong’

Most of us are familiar with the traditional tall sunflower withits large yellow daisy-like bloom, but there’s far more to sunflowers than that. They come in various forms, both short-lived annuals and longer-lived clump-forming perennials. When they have withered, they form sunflower seeds which can be used for all your culinary needs and as a source of food for the wildlife in your garden. Native to a swath of land from the central belt of the United States to that of Mexico, the common sunflower is found on prairies, grasslands and disturbed ground. Of an intermediate height of 1.8m, what distinguishes ‘Copper Queen’ from the others on this list is the colour of its rays – they are out-and-out orange.

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In the binomial name Helianthus annuus the genus name is derived from the Greek ἥλιος: hḗlios 'sun' and ἄνθος: ánthos 'flower'. The species name annuus means 'annual' in Latin. Starting sunflowers off indoors gives the plants a head start, which is important if you want to grow really tall ones. However, you need space on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse for a month or more, until you can plant them out in early summer. It is of a branching type and shows off its incredible, one-of-a-kind flowers nearly all summer long. 17) H. annuus‘Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl’ The flowers vary in size too, from huge dinner plates to small teacups, and not just traditional yellow, butvariousshades of cream, red, orange and brown too. The rays are a light bright yellow and, at another point of departure, the light brown discs are quite small and not as prominent as in most other varieties’ flowers.

On the species plant, the disc florets are in varying rich shades of brown and the ray florets are a bright, sunny yellow. 2) H. annuus‘Valentine’ Annual sunflowers are usually grown from seed, sown indoors in spring (see Propagating, below). Keep them on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouseuntil late spring or early summer, then plant outside once the soil is warming up and there is no risk of frost. Harden themoff thoroughly first, to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions.When they’re newly germinated, they’ll need a good soak every day that it doesn’t rain for at least a week or two. The large leaves are well known for being hairy and heart-shaped, whilst the flowers are huge at 25-30cm across. There are many different types,from the familiartowering giants topped with a large sunny flower, to more compact plants with many smaller blooms. They can rangefrom a mere30cm (1ft) tall up to3m (10ft) or more.

These are the most popular type of sunflower – being annualsthey last just one year, but are very easy to grow from seed each spring (see Propagating, below). Once the birds have figured out where this food source is located, they won’t be scared off nearly as easily as they are when the scary implements have been in play for months.The reason is that it produces fantastic flowers that are of a riveting coppery red hue with a distinctly velvety sheen. 14) H. annuus‘Ruby Sunset’

Reaching a height of around 1.5m and producing flowers of average size and which has a corresponding average blooming season, ‘Velvet Queen’ is actually a very special cultivar. A relatively new cultivar appearing around 2018, ‘Sunbelievable Brown Eyed Girl’ took the bronze medal at that year’s Chelsea Flower Show and it is easy to see why. 1 Rice, G. (2018b, September 28). Graham Rice’s new plants blog: new everblooming sunflower. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants-blogs/plants/august-2018/helianthus-annuus-sunbelievable There are two kinds of sunflowers grown commercially: oilseed sunflowers and confection sunflowers. For example, as the flowers are a source of nectar, they will draw butterflies and bees to your garden in abundance. Also of a nondescript height nearing 1.5m and also producing flowers of an average size, ‘Ruby Sunset’ is also very much a special cultivar.The plant flowers in summer. What is often called the " flower" of the sunflower is actually a "flower head" ( pseudanthium), 7.5–12.5 centimetres (3–5in) wide, [4] of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers (" florets"). The outer flowers, which resemble petals, are called ray flowers. Each "petal" consists of a ligule composed of fused petals of an asymmetrical ray flower. They are sexually sterile and may be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The spirally arranged flowers in the center of the head are called disk flowers. These mature into fruit (sunflower "seeds"). Showy Sunflower’ is another option for those who prefer perennials and this species also has a clump-forming habit.