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A New Year, a new Millennium and all sorts of new catalogues
are pouring in. I am a catalogue user. Even if I do not buy
from all of them that cross my desk I learnt from them. I
find out what new plants and seeds are being offered in the
New Year and then I know what to watch for when spring comes.
I place a few orders, usually for seeds of plants that I may
not find easily in the garden centres and that I hope I can
grow myself. Also for old favorites; summer is not summer
for me if I cannot enjoy picking the small Sungold tomatoes
whenever I pass the vine; there is no sweeter or more flavorful
tomatoe!
Reading
catalogues is a wonderful winter recreation. No expense and
beautiful dreams!
The first thing to look for is the special plants that have
been released for the year 2000. A good place to start is
with the All -America selections. These are plants that are
tested throughout North America at centres such as the Royal
Botanical gardens and the University of Guelph as well as
numerous other places in Canada and the States.
For the first time the year 2000 sees an All American award
given to a Sunflower and what better time is there to write
about sunflowers than in the dark of winter when the thought
of them brings spring closer.
In the past sunflowers were all the same. A very tall plant
with a large yellow daisy shaped flower, which turns through
the day so that it always faces the sun and even looks like
the sun itself. When the flower dies its large seedhead provides
a favorite food for many different birds as well as being
a nourishing snack for us.
In recent years there has been an explosion in breeding sunflowers
and now there are so many different ones it is difficult to
know where to start.
No longer are they all giants; there are dwarf varieties.
Some such as Pacino and Sundance Kid are suitable for either
container growing or the flower bed. Pacino has
numerous bright yellow flowers. After the main one opens,
numerous lateral flowers follow producing a mass display.
The flowers can be up to 13cms across and the plants are about
a metre tall. The same size, but very different in colour
and form is Sundance Kid. This sunflower is multi branching
and the flowers are semi-double in shades of yellow and bronze.
Both these varieties are excellent flowers for cutting. Another
small sunflower is the very double Teddy Bear. It grows about
90cm tall and has large yellow flowers like pincushions. It
is recommended as a bedding plant.
The growers have also hybridised a range of pollen free sunflowers
which means the flowers will last longer and be more suitable
as cut flowers, but will not set seeds.
Moonbright, Sunbright and Sonja all grow about 1 to
2 metres tall and have vivid flowers with dark centres. Another
very attractive one is Prado red which is deep red with a
yellow and brown centre.
Finally the All American Winner this year is ‘Soraya’ an imposing
sunflower growing 180cms tall carrying branching flower stems
which hold pumpkin orange flowers with chocolate centres.
The flower stems are strong and 180cms long making them perfect
to use as cut flowers.
Sunflowers are easy to grow if you have an open area with
lots of sun. They can be planted directly outside after the
danger of frost is past. Sow them 1.5 cms deep and keep them
damp until they have germinated. Once started they are strong
growers, but may benefit by application of weak fertilizer
or manure tea as they are growing. If you are growing for
seed it will be necessary to cover the flower heads with bags
as they form seed to protect them from birds who will eat
the seed as soon as it is formed and not wait until it is
ripe. It may be easier to cut the heads and hang them to dry
in an airy place indoors. They will take two to three weeks
to dry. Then they can be stored to provide birdseed for the
winter months.
Sunflower seed is also good for sprouting and eating in salads,
or just munching the young sprouts just as they emerge with
their two green cotyledon leaves are delicious.
For gardeners the year 2000 could be written with a 2 and
3 sunflower head! So plant sunflowers in your garden this
year as an icon to celebrate the first summer of the millennium!
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