How to Combine Sunflowers

Sunflowers come in cut and seed varieties.

While sunflowers are native to the US, they now grow in temperate to arid regions all over the world for their seeds, their oil or as cut flowers. Since sunflowers come in heights from about 2 feet to 15 feet tall, choose a mixture of short and tall sunflowers to fill out your garden. Growing a combination of sunflowers also creates different blooms for your enjoyment all summer long.

Things You'll Need

• Compost

Instructions

1. Choose an area to plant the sunflowers. Pick a place with well-drained soil and full sun. Add 3 to 4 inches of compost to the top of the soil, and work it into a depth of 8 to 10 inches.

2. Select what kind of sunflowers you want to plant -- edible sunflowers, cut sunflowers or a combination of both. Decide how tall you want the sunflowers to grow. Choose sunflowers based on color. Colors of sunflowers include dark red, light yellow, yellow, brown, bronze, burgundy, mahogany and white, according to the University of California, Davis.

   Some cut sunflower types are: Bright Bandolier is 5 to 7 feet tall with red and yellow flowers. Lemon Éclair is 4 to 6 feet tall with light yellow flowers. Teddy Bear is only 1 ½ feet tall with double yellow flowers.

   Some seed sunflowers are: Russian Giant grows 10 to 15 feet tall with 1 foot flower heads. Kong grows 10 feet tall with 1 foot flower heads and Sunspot grows 2 feet tall with 10 inch flower heads. (Ref 2)

3. Plant the sunflowers. Plant taller and larger varieties in the back. Dig holes 1 inch deep for each seed. Space the large seeds about 1 to 2 feet apart. Place the smaller sunflowers in front of the larger ones. Space the smaller seeds 6 inches apart. Cover the seeds with soil and pat the soil down. Water the soil for 3 to 5 minutes.

References

• Purdue University: Sunflower
• UC Davis: Sunflowers in Your Garden