One of the reasons helianthus are so especial has to do with their bright appearing . Just looking at them can cabbage your mood . ( We ’re not enumerate that amongst oursunflower facts ; you get that one for free . )
" Sunflowers make people happy , " Raleigh Wasser , gardening manager for theAtlanta Botanical Gardensays via email . " It might be the bright petals around the primal cheek that is so attractive to people . "
resemble the Lord’s Day , those vibrant yellow flower petal ( also known as " rays " ) indeed make these " felicitous flowers " the perfect gift to bring pleasure to someone ’s day . But there is much more to these cheery flowers than meets the optic .
1. There Are So Many Varieties
When picturing these flowers you might call up of chickenhearted sunflower , but they come in many size and colors , such as reddened helianthus . More than70 cultivarsofHelianthusexist , with the plebeian helianthus species beingHelianthus annuus — Helianthusmeaning helios ( or sun ) andanthus(flower ) , according to Wasser .
" Within all of these species are an copiousness of different colors and forms , set out from little to very tumid , from having yellowed petals to red , " he says . " across-the-board crossing and hybridizing have result in a with child number of cultivar that greatly expand the mountain chain of blossom color ( ray flowers in burnished and pastel shadiness of yellow , red , mahogany , bronze , white and atomic number 83 - colors ) and flower head shapes ( unforesightful shaft , long rays , some image ) .
" There are dwarf varieties ( 1 to 3 inches [ 2.5 to 7.6 centimeters ] marvelous ) and gigantic varieties ( up to 15 feet [ 4.5 meter ] tall ) , " he adds . " The flower heads on gigantic variety can pass 12 inches [ 30 centimeters ] in diam . Disk efflorescence give way to the conversant sunflower seeds . "
2. They’re Easy to Grow
In fact , sunflower plant life are so easy to grow , Wasser enounce , that they sometimes sprout up underbird feedersthat have merely dropped seed .
But in cosmopolitan , he adds , if you require to set them , you should sow the seed directly into the territory after the danger of frost has put across in spring . you could also start the seminal fluid indoors and transplant the helianthus buds .
you could implant perennial sunflowers of theHelianthusgenus ( as opposed to annuals ) in give or declension . Seeds should sprout in seven to 10 days , and calculate on the variety , helianthus will bloom after a couple of months , based on produce conditions , with the flower maturing and develop seeded player in 80 to 120 days .
" You do n’t ask to use fertilizer for most garden filth , " Wasser sound out . " Even if your grease is very poor , you wo n’t need more than a calorie-free program of slow - release granular plant food . The flowers are drouth - tolerant and do OK with an occasional watering in the driest weather . "
Sunflowers might need staking when they ’re young and have n’t developed a strong root system , specially if they are marvelous and developing a gravid principal . Make certain the theme have equal space and loose enough soil to spread .
3. The Tallest Sunflower Measured 30 Feet (9 Meters)
In 2014,Guinness World Recordsverified that Hans - Peter Schiffer break a record with his tower sunflower plant , which measured just over 30 feet ( 9.17 metre ) .
4. It’s Difficult to Extend the Life of the Rays
regrettably , once a sunflower is in the ground and bloom , there ’s not much you’re able to do to keep those rays . " If the variety has many root word , the grower candeadheadspent blossom to redirect growth to the remain bud , " Wasser says .
If you want to edit out the flowers and put them in a vase , Wasser indicate changing out the water supply out every two to three daytime .
When you do refresh the water , cut the base of the stems at a 45 - degree slant ( do this while they ’re under strong running water ) . And keep the cut flower off from direct light source and from in high spirits humidity .
5. Sunflowers Need Lots of Sun
Ideally , sunflowers should get full sun for at least eight hour a day , Wasser says . " If their requirement for plenty of lineal Lord’s Day is met , " he says , " they will reinforce you with long - live on bloom throughout summer and sometimes into fall . "
While sun is the most essential constituent , taller sunflower varieties — like ' Sunzilla , ' which grows up to 16 feet ( 4.8 meters ) tall — also need aegis from breaking wind , he tot .
6. They Can Track the Sun
unripened flower buds of the sunflower display solar tracking , and on sunny days , the bud will follow the sun across the sky from east to west . By daybreak , the buds will have returned to face eastwards . However , fixed in one attitude , mature sunflowers face east as their stems stiffen .
Flowers of the wild sunflowers see on roadsides do not follow the sunshine , and their florescence head face many direction when mature . The sunflower leaves do expose some solar tracking .
7. Greek Mythology Tells Why Sunflowers Face the Sun
InGreek mythology , the story of the nymph Clytie and Helios ( the Dominicus god ) is one of dearest and betrayal . Clytie loves Helios and at first , he loves her , too . But soon he betrays Clytie and fall in love with Leucothea , girl of Orchamus .
Because of her jealousy , Clytie tells Leucothea ’s founder of the human relationship . Helios is only see red by her conclusion and he punishes her by burying her alive . Clytie , though , still do it Helios and lays naked for nine days staring at the sun , without food for thought or piss .
On the 9th day , she becomes a flower — the bloodstone or helianthus — and turns toward the sun .
8. Sunflowers Are an Important Food Source
to begin with cultivated by North American Indians in present - twenty-four hour period Arizona and New Mexico around3000 B.C.E. , the helianthus has a long and interesting account as a food plant . Some archaeologists suggest the sunflower may have been domesticate before corn .
The various American Indian tribes used the flowering plants in many way of life : Seedwas ground or pound off into flour for cakes , cornmeal mush or staff of life ; some federation of tribes mix the meal with other vegetables , such as beans , squeeze and maize ; and the seed was cracked and corrode for a snack .
There also are references that they squeeze the oil from the seed and used it to make bread .
9. One Sunflower Produces Around 1,000 Seeds
Sunflower heads can contain as many as1,000 to 2,000 seeds . Each seed can be quite dissimilar when it comes to visual aspect , but the most usual variety used for snacking has a black - and - snowy stripy pattern on the Cordell Hull .
Other types of germ ( such as the whiteorblack sunflower seeds ) are amply edible but are typically used for other intent , such as for helianthus petroleum .
10. You Can Harvest Sunflower Seeds
For eatable sunflower seed , you ask to grow the annual variety ( Helianthus annuus ) . " You must harvest the flowers after the leaves shrivel , but before the seasonal pelting , " Wasser says . " The blossom head ( including 1 to 2 ft [ 30 to 60 cm ] of still hunt ) must spend another month hanging in a dry , well - aired place before you extract the seed . "
Once you ’ve done that , judge your bridge player atroasting the seeds .
11. You Also Can Make Sunflower Oil
Homemade helianthus germ oil can have multiple purposes , include cooking or for beauty product . One recipe requires 35 pounds ( 15.8 kilogram ) of oilseed , though you ’ll net 3 gallons ( 11.3 liters ) of rock oil . That intend if you ’re develop your own sunflowers , you ’d need the seeds of about 140 plants !
12. They Are Ukraine’s National Flower
Historically , Ukraine is the biggestsunflower oil color exporterin the domain . Spaniardsintroduced helianthus to Europein the seventeenth century , and by the mid-18th 100 , they had made their style to Ukraine . sunflower became prevalent throughout the country .
