If you’re looking for easy seeds to grow with children, it’s hard to beat growing sunflowers in pots. If you’re not gardening with children, sunflowers are still fantastic plants to grow, and they make wonderful cut sunflowers too. The petals are edible, provided you don’t use chemical sprays. Beware of the bitter young dandelion greens taste. 27. Choco Sun Sunflowers Technically qualifying as a dwarf variety at 75cm tall, ‘Sunsation Yellow’ boasts the plus point of a relatively long blooming season that goes well into autumn.

If the dwarf sunflower is still young, water the plant near the root zone, so 3-4 inches around the root crown. Once the dwarf sunflower has matured, which usually happens in 85-95 days (unless the sunflower matures early), water deeply. Solsation Flame is a compact, bushy sunflower bred to be grown in pots. The petals are two-toned with bronze-red inner petals and gold tips. The center discs are dark brown. 18. Suntastic Sunflowers It produces a gorgeous flower, is prolific and floriferous, and it blooms all summer and autumn long! The easy-to-grow miniature sunflower blooms all year round. In a small pot with short-day conditions, this plant is tiny at 6 inches tall, but in a larger pot with longer-day conditions and more sunlight, the Sunny Smile branches out and grows to a height of 15-20 inches. 14. Dwarf Double Sungold Sunflowers

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I love the Elf sunflowers because they are the smallest of the dwarf sunflowers, AND they attract butterflies. If you want more than one sunflower to a pot I would either get a larger pot, if within your budget, or with the current pot plant a couple of seeds equidistant from the edge and centre of the pot. You can always trim the leaves as they grow if they become too squashed. A sunflower is an annual plant. This means the plant grows, flowers, and dies in one growing season.

Ourteam of horticulturists planned our garden centreto show plants in their natural habitat, with inspirational displays.Looking forplants is like taking awalkin a botanical sanctuary. There are also some lovely white varieties of sunflowers with chocolate brown centres – try * Italian White, Moonlight or Moonwalker. Born in mid-summer, between July 23 and August 22, Leos have the double-shot of being a fire sign, and also of being ruled by the Sun. What water and Moon-loving Cancers are to sensitivity, Leos are to confidence. With that type of inferno roaring through their charts, how could they be any less? While that fire has been known to burn up anyone in its way, it will also warm and protect anyone a Leo has claimed as their own. If you want to brighten the day of the fiercely loyal lion in your life with flowers for their den, they feel drawn to flowers that are as bold and exuberant as they are.

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The Waooh sunflower sounds like a hoot! These pollen-free dwarf sunflowers grow 4 inches wide when mature, and the yellow petals with a chocolate brown disc look like little sunshine rays. 33. Little Leo Sunflowers For example, as the flowers are a source of nectar, they will draw butterflies and bees to your garden in abundance. Other than where noted, they flower through most of the summer and are annuals. 1) Helianthus annuus

Join my Nature Crafts & Fun Facebook group here where we share lots of great tips and ideas for exploring and enjoying nature with children. Sunflowers usually bloom in summer and early autumn. The peak flowering time is around midsummer. These timings are dependent upon when you plant your sunflower seeds, and the weather conditions where you live. How to grow sunflowers in pots Rising to just over 1m and with flowers measuring 15-17cm in diameter, ‘Valentine’ produces amongst the lightest-coloured sunflowers – or the darkest, depending on your point of view.Sunflower Little Leo (Helianthus annuus) is an easy to grow, many flowered dwarf variety of sunflower. This versatile, multi-branching dwarf plant is a great food source for insects and birds. Attracting them to your outside space bringing it alive. Of an intermediate height of 1.8m, what distinguishes ‘Copper Queen’ from the others on this list is the colour of its rays – they are out-and-out orange.

If you’re growing dwarf sunflowers, you can also use a plant alongside other bedding plants or evergreen plants to create a lovely mixed display. Sunflowers make a perfect star of the show here. Fun activities to do with your sunflowers If you’re growing sunflowers in pots, you can plant the seeds earlier than April, and give the pots some protection from the cold. A greenhouse, cold frame, or simply a windowsill indoors are all ideal. When is the latest you can plant sunflowers? I love Bashful dwarf sunflowers with their pale yellow and salmon pink flowers. The pollen-free flowerheads grow 3-4 inches wide in dense clusters. 26. Sunspot Sunflowers The Sundance Kid sunflower is one of the older dwarf sunflower cultivars. The fluffy semi-double flowers have a chocolate brown disc and petals that start out red in the middle and then fade to a custard yellow. 22. Topolino SunflowersSunflowers produce their floral reward very promptly after planting and in profusion, but they also have other pleasing characteristics.