Growing Sunflowers From Seed

I grew sunflowers from seeds I found in my field

One of the sunflower plants I grew from “found” seeds. Photo by Author.

Last year I was working in my garden when I noticed a sunflower growing in my small field. I didn’t know how it got there. I guessed that it was probably dropped there by some passing bird. I decided that I would save some of the seed and see if I could get it to grow. The photo above is the result of one of those seeds.

Sunflowers are tall, tough plants, with some varieties reaching 14 feet in height. Some smaller varieties, as short as a foot tall, can fit in pots or small gardens. Many varieties attract bees and birds who dine on sunflower nectar and seeds, making them an ideal choice for a wildlife or pollinator garden. The variety I found was tall and multiple flowers came from each main stem.

When the seeds were ready, I cut the flower heads from the stem and saved the seeds by storing the dry seeds in an airtight container and waited until spring.

Planted Sunflowers in Three Sisters’ Garden

Sunflowers grow best in areas that receive six to eight hours of direct sun per day. Growing sunflower plants is easy because they’re heat tolerant, pest resistant, and fast-growing. They’re native to North America so they can adapt to conditions in most locations. I decided to plant my…