Skyscraper sunflower
They provide shade, wind protection, and shelter for the vegetables. Sunflowers make good companion plants for cucumbersand melons– planted after the melons and cukes have sprouted to avoid the allelopathic effect. We transplant the vegetables after the sunflowers are about 1 - 2 feet tall to avoid the seed germination inhibition. The taller varieties provide shade for vegetables that appreciate some afternoon shade like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Sunflowers make an excellent windbreak in our southwestern climate, we plant them on the south and west sides of the garden to slow down and filter the near-constant winds to something our tomatoes, peppers, and corn can handle. Sunflowers are used to put the hurt on weed seeds. The allelopathic effect inhibits other seeds from germinating in the same soil, and is one of the reasons when weeds pop up first – everything else has a hard time growing. Their roots have one of the most aggressive allelopathic effects on seed germination we’ve seen. They also work great to pulverize a hard spot in the raised beds or flower bed, making it perfect for next season. We’ve used them as the first stage in cover cropping a new area, opening up the soil making it easier for the next cover crop mixture. Sunflowers have one of the most aggressive root systems known, drilling down through hardpan or clay. Once the seeds mature, they bring in tiny finches and myriad other birds who delight in pulling the seeds out of the head and feeding on them one by one. The large, composite flowers are magnets for bees of all kinds, especially bumblebees, as well as attracting a myriad of pollinators into the garden, from different bees to butterflies and even hummingbirds. Some archaeologists suggest that sunflower may have been domesticated before corn. Evidence suggests that the plant was cultivated by Indians in present-day Arizona and New Mexico about 3000 BC. Sunflower was a common crop among American Indian tribes throughout North America. It was only recently that the sunflower plant returned to North America to become a cultivated crop. The wild sunflower is native to North America but commercialization of the plant took place in Russia.
Skyscraper sunflower Patch#
Plant a patch of these for a backyard forest! Great for shading or as a wind break. This large seeded variety produces well filled highly nutritious edible seeds for roasting or eating raw.
This tall beauty can grow 12' in height with bright yellow blooms that are easily more then one foot across the center and as tall as a skyscraper. Corn Red Field Poppy Flanders Papaver Rhoeas £0.99 – £59.Skyscraper Sunflower - The Empire State Building of the Sunflower World.Ox Eye Daisy Leucanthemum Vulgare £0.99 – £42.99 Select options.Zinnia Giant Polar Bear £0.99 – £8.39 Select options.Begonia Tuberous Illumination Mixed F1 £1.29 – £11.49 Select options.These will require staking / support in all but the most sheltered locations.Steadily harden off before planting out after all danger of frost has passed.When seedlings are 2 to 3 inches high, thin to individual pots.Can be sown as late as 100 days before last frost. Or direct-sow seeds outside after all danger of frost has passed to a depth of 1/4 inch. Seeds can be started indoors 3 to 4 weeks before last spring frost.Cultivation Advice Sunflower Skyscraper new Very popular with wildlife in early winter if left, encouraging birds into the garden. This large seeded variety produces huge quantities of well filled highly nutritious edible seeds for eating, roasted or raw. Ideal for a back garden forest, for shading or a tall screen.
Skyscraper sunflower plus#
One of the largest Sunflowers available producing massive 12-14ft plus plants with large bright yellow flower heads up to 40cm across.