GROWING SUNFLOWERS IN AUSTRALIA
If you’re thinking about growing sunflowers in Australia, you’re spoilt for choice
Picture a summer garden. Sleepy bees, radiating heat and big, friendly sunflowers. Is there a more quintessential picture of summer? Or what about those French tourist postcards - like the one your mum might post you during her holiday in France - with fields of sunflowers rolling all the way to the horizon? Just the thought of sunflowers brings happiness. Surely nobody could be sad with a sunflower around?
Their popularity is undeniable. In a recent survey I ran, respondents named the sunflower as one of their top two favourite summer flowers. And they're not wrong. No wonder 'pick-your-own' sunflower farms and sunflower Instagram photo spots seem to be popping up everywhere.
Not just big and yellow
When most people picture a sunflower, they picture the giant: one enormous stem, one dinner-plate head, peering over the back fence. Those are wonderful (and kids adore them), but sunflowers come in a far bigger range of heights and colours than most people realise.
Heights
Dwarf varieties like Dwarf Lemon Bling and Teddy Bear stay short and sweet. They're perfect for pots, the front of a garden bed or a small courtyard.
Compact and mid-height varieties are the sweet spot for cut flowers and smaller gardens. Lemon Striker is a beautifully coloured compact variety, and one of my favourites.
Giants are the showstoppers - look for anything with Mammoth in the name. These can easily top three metres, with a head to match.
There's even ones that are low or no pollen, for those who think the garden gate and the joy of growing are closed to them because of hayfever.
Colours
Yellow is just the beginning. A few of my favourites:
Lemon Striker: soft lemon petals. Gorgeous in a mixed bunch.
Italian White: creamy, almost-white petals with a dark centre.
Crimson Peach: dark centre and crimson petals.
Ruby Rich: red, dark and moody, for something a little different.
Teddy Bear: fluffy and golden.
Lilac Spray: dark centres with mauve and lemon petals
Where to find seed in Australia
Veggie Flower Garden Seeds, The Diggers Club and The Seed Collection all sell a lovely variety of sunflower seeds, from dwarf to giant and just about every colour in between.
True sun lovers
The name says it all. Sunflowers are heat-loving plants that thrive in long, hot summer days, and they need a spot in full sun.
They're also surprisingly drought tolerant once established. Sunflowers send down a deep taproot that finds moisture well below the surface, so once they've settled in they'll handle a hot, dry spell far better than many other summer flowers.
A life beyond the garden bed
The best part? Sunflowers keep giving long after the petals fall.
Garden teepees. Get your sunflowers to work harder by planting them in your veggie garden, where they can provide pretty support for climbers like beans.
A feast for wildlife. Leave a few heads on the plant to set seed and you'll bring fabulous native wildlife into your garden. Birds love them. Watch the seed heads and you might spot rosellas, galahs, or cockatoos stopping by for a feed.
Bees, bees, bees. While they're in flower, most sunflowers are also a magnet for bees and other pollinators. Hello again, sleepy bees.
So, which sunflower is yours?
Whether you want a giant one for the kids to measure themselves against, a bucket of soft lemon blooms for the kitchen table or a seed feast for the birds, there's a sunflower for every garden. Plant a few this summer. I bet you won’t be able to stop smiling.