Sunflowers how long do they bloom

Dwarf sunflowers are the perfect size for cutting and using in arrangements. Helianthus annuus 'Teddy Bear'. Height: 2 to 6 feet tall Bloom size: 4 to 8 inches across. Known for their fuzzy, fluffy, or soft texture, double sunflowers are attention grabbers. Available in semi-double or fully-double forms, their flowers last longer than single-bloom varieties and make excellent cut flowers. Many are pollenless or have minimal pollen. Zones: Height: 1 to 10 feet tall Bloom size: 2 to 5 inches across.

Perennial sunflowers will come back year-after-year. They are tough plants that offer weeks of flowers. Rather than sending up a giant flower head, like many of the annual types, these sunflowers form clumps with many smaller flowers.

Photo courtesy: All-America Selections. Many gardeners are surprised to discover that sunflowers are available in more colors than the classic bright yellow. There are types with deep red flowers, others that show of beautiful combinations of color and still others that are white. False sunflowers resemble smaller versions of true sunflowers, but have raised, cone-shaped centers.

The petals stay with the flower instead of withering and falling off, as sunflowers do. False sunflowers are perennials and can be easily grown in zones Size: 24 to 32 inches tall, up to 2 feet wide.

Are sunflowers poisonous to cats or dogs? You can safely grow them in your garden and use them in arrangements indoors. Do sunflowers follow the sun?

Young sunflowers face east to soak up sunlight in the morning and track the sun as it moves westward throughout the day. This process is called heliotropism. Seedlings grow into strong plants. The mature sunflower grows buds that bloom.

Seeds ripen and the sunflower begins to wilt. My Sunflowers have been a novelty with the children in my family, I show them how to plant the seeds and keep the plant healthy till we harvest them. They get a thrill at the rapid growth. This intrigues them and they get curious about more in depth questions too like how the sunflower get its energy to grow , how and why does it follow the sun and how it makes seeds.

There are over 70 varieties of sunflowers and so many colors to choose from. Annuals, perennials, dwarf, bush, multi headed and even seedless , but I am choosing the most iconic.

Sunflower for this growth timeline and that is the iconic giant sunflower. The giant sunflower can grow up and over 6 feet tall and their flower heads are majestically large.

I have based this general growth timeline observing the sunflowers I grow in my own garden. Depending on your growing conditions you might find a slight variation in some of the stages of growth. I usually plant the sunflower seeds I have carefully stored from my previous years harvesting. The seed is the dormant undeveloped stage of the plant. This is where the life cycle is waiting to begin. The sunflower seed, with its shell on, is a single dried out fruit of a plant in its whole form.

In botanical terms it is called a cypsela. Within this whole seed is all the nutrients and genetic information needed to grow another sunflower plant. This is the first stage of the seeds awakened life. Underneath the soil, out of sight, the wispy roots reach out and a developing shoot pushes its way to the surface of the soil, looking for sunlight.

Our seedling has become a young sunflower plant. This is its development stage to gain as much growth as it can. If you have started your seeds off indoors then the time will come to harden them off and transfer them to their growing site outside. This usually happens towards the end of spring when the last of the harsh weather has gone. The newly sprouted sunflower usually has 2 baby leaves on it and quickly grows many more as the stem starts to get taller.

The first few sets of sunflower leaves are usually oval in shape but as more leaves come they look like the heart shaped leaves of a mature sunflower, only smaller. The young plant starts to develop rapidly, getting as strong and tall as it can.

You can find out how this amazing process works here. Our sunflower plant is still growing and our bud is trying to get all the hours of sunlight it can in order to get as much energy for the bud to develop and enlarge. The way our sunflower does this is by following the sun. This is also the stage to keep your sunflower hydrated. Regular watering is so important for the budding and flowering stage of its life, so it can grow strong and big.

With all the care we have given our sunflower the bud has grown as big as it can and starts to flower. Our sunflower has now reached its blooming stage and gently opens its petals. While most varieties of this bright beauty are annual sunflowers , meaning they will not come back the following growing season, they may self-germinate from dropped seeds if you leave the heads on the plants throughout the winter. The perennial Maximillian sunflower features small blooms in late summer and early fall.

Deadheading perennial sunflowers encourages new flower growth. Inspect the sunflower plants for flower heads that appear dead. Select droopy, faded or dried flowers for deadheading. Snip the stalk beneath the dead flower but above the first healthy leaf with garden shears or anvil pruners.

While they are stunningly beautiful, they also are rich in history and meaning. Sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. Much of the meaning of sunflowers stems from its namesake, the sun itself. The anther is the part of the flower's stamen that contains the pollen. When they reach their full height, the largest sunflowers may be up to 12 feet tall, while dwarf sunflowers may only reach heights of 2 feet.

Sunflower plants pass through four main development stages from planting to harvest; a vegetative phase, a reproductive phase, a period of ripening, and senescence or dieback. It's useful and in some cases necessary to understand and to identify when the plant is at, or has moved through different growth stages.

Just don't remove the sunflowers after they bloom. Birds will soon find the seeds as they ripen. When the seeds are ripe 30 to 45 days later, they're ready for hanging outdoors as bird feed, but you can also wait until winter to put dried seed heads outside for hungry birds. An annual plant , sunflowers have big, daisy- like flower faces of bright yellow petals and occasionally red and brown centers that ripen into heavy heads filled with seeds. Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means that they turn their flowers to follow the movement of the Sun across the sky.

Water the sunflowers when the top inch of soil is dry. Aim to keep the soil moist -- not soggy. For optimum growth, especially focus on regular watering about 20 days before and after flowering. Waiting is especially difficult when you're planting sunflower seeds and anticipating the happy faces smiling over the garden. Many annual sunflowers Helianthus annuus sprout quickly, within seven to 10 days, but you may need to wait as long as two months before the bright flowers appear.

Sunflowers, one of the most interesting flowers in the garden, grow rapidly from tiny seeds into tall stalks. Little is more pleasant on a summer's afternoon than watching the large, bright flower heads turn to follow the sun. Easy to grow in most climates, sunflower cultivars differ widely, producing plants between 3 and 16 feet tall and flowers in shades of yellow, bronze, orange, red and brown. Regular garden soil works just fine for these flowers, and they will thrive in poor to average, well-drained soils as long as the site gets direct sun.