Date: Fri 19-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A10

Quick Words:

Gardener-Bleach-sunflower

Full Text:

(Suburban Gardener column on sunflowers, 7/19/96)

Suburban Gardener-

Instant Sunshine!

By Anthony C. Bleach

An enormous, hairy plant beneath the maple, growing with wheat, oats and

others, looks strange. It was a sunflower: The seed had dropped from the bird

feeder. Of course it is a weed, a plant out of place, but the flower should be

interesting so it can stay for now.

Shepherd's Garden Seeds told me you can still sow sunflowers and get a good

show before frost. Yes!, Cosmos too, spectacular and easy. Shepherd's has four

new ones bred in Holland, and I agree with the description, "in unique shapes

and glowing colors."

Sow sunflower seeds two inches deep and 18 inches apart in a sunny part of the

border. Water seedlings regularly and, when they are tall types, feed

sparingly with a liquid fertilizer when they are at the two-foot mark. Avoid

splashing water or fertilizer solution onto stems or leaves.

Tall sunflowers may need staking with canes and string if the site is exposed

or windy. Low-growing types suit the middle or the front of the border.

Although children enjoy the sky-reaching nature of traditional sunflowers, the

knee- or child-high forms, such as Big Smile or the double-flowered Teddy

Bear, can be more appreciated.

Before it became popular in gardens, the sunflower was grown primarily for

food and medicine. The Hopi, Ojibwa and Hidsara used parts of the plant for

ointments; seeds were used for cooking; the flour was used to thicken soups,

and the petals gave colors for dyeing.

Its cultivation in the Southwest is documented as far back as 3000 BC. Spanish

conquistadors brought back seeds to the Botanical Gardens in Madrid around

1510. Its nutritional value was rediscovered in Russia, where butter and other

animal fats are traditionally banned by the church at Lent.

It was improved as a plant, and modest wild flowers were transformed into

giants, with seed heads like flower plates. In 1870, Mennonite immigrants

brought back the sunflower to Canada, when it was known as Mammoth Russian. In

the meantime, Colonial American settlers were planting them around their

houses, not for ornament but as protection against malaria.

Although sun yellow is the essential sunflower color, new varieties give

greater versatility: Italian White, with creamy colored flower, can cool hot

colors; Velvet Queen, with velvet red petals and chocolate centers, and Prado

Red give sumptuous effects at the back of the border; and Pastiche, with its

mixed shades of reds, yellows and buffs, is perfect for blending and

separating color.

Pollen-free sunflowers were introduced in 1988 by the Japanese seed company

Sakata Seed Corporation. They were bred for flower arrangers as sunflower

pollen stains petals, textiles and anything it touches.

The pollen-free strains are usually on much shorter stems, which again

increases their versatility. These include Big Smile, Full Sun, Sonja and

Music Box, which won the Fleuroselect Quality Award in Europe.

(Anthony C. Bleach coordi nates the horticulture degree program at Naugatuck

Valley Community-Technical College in Waterbury.)