Sunflowers

[jasonvivier]

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Past, unfortunately. I loves my sunflowers!! I didn't get seeds from these last year, so I really hope that I can get plenty of volunteers and seeds before we move. I had one rare variety in the mix called "Il Torre" from Italy (originally from Adaptive Seeds, a company that you should check out).

Just found out not too long ago that you can take the unopened flowers buds and cook and eat them like artichokes.

Totally impressed by the cooking of sunflowers. I didn't know that - I found this, which I will try this year - http://www.wickedtastyharvest.com/wicked_tasty_harvest/2009/10/braised-sunflowers.html

 

[thistlebloom]

@Lavender2 , Like like LIKE! That second story sunflower pic is super gorgeous! There's even cosmos in the background.
I thought you said your daughter couldn't grow stuff?

I cracked up about your squirrels and chipmunks planting for you!
Hey, whatever works, right?

 

[Lavender2]

Yeah, I was impressed by her cosmos garden. Funny thing about that... the first year in their house, she told me they had this weird stuff growing up in an area in the grass. They would mow it and it would come back up. (this is almost embarrassing) It was asparagus!
She cleared out the grass and threw some cosmos seed around it, it looked pretty cool then... and they loved the asparagus. (Her Dh grew the sunflowers)

I think I pulled more sunflower clumps than weeds last summer, every garden and pot had them, even the wall planter of impatiens up on the house. I thinned many clumps where I knew they would grow without the deer coming in and munching the tops off.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Heirlooms


I always think phosphorous soil additive every time I see a bird in the garden.

I've never heard of using phosphorus to scare birds off. How does it work? I could also use this to scare the birds away from my rare grain varieties too. If I could scare these birds away once and for all, I could actually get enough grain to cook with!

They aren't exactly heirlooms but similar. The only thing different about these are -
The seeds haven't been passed down through a family from my knowledge. And many of these varieties haven't existed for that long. I think that "Il Torre" was bred sometime during the 70s (?) using traditional breeding methods. None of the varieties that I have are hybrids or CMS (male sterile).

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Totally impressed by the cooking of sunflowers. I didn't know that - I found this, which I will try this year - http://www.wickedtastyharvest.com/wicked_tasty_harvest/2009/10/braised-sunflowers.html

I would definitely try that using a standard yellow variety first. Something tells me that the smaller colored varieties like the ones that I have would be more bitter.

 

[jasonvivier]

I've never heard of using phosphorus to scare birds off. How does it work? I could also use this to scare the birds away from my rare grain varieties too. If I could scare these birds away once and for all, I could actually get enough grain to cook with!

They aren't exactly heirlooms but similar. The only thing different about these are -
The seeds haven't been passed down through a family from my knowledge. And many of these varieties haven't existed for that long. I think that "Il Torre" was bred sometime during the 70s (?) using traditional breeding methods. None of the varieties that I have are hybrids or CMS (male sterile).

Oh no sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm not trying to scare them off, I'm trying to get them to leave a 'packet' of phosphorus when they come eat the sunflowers. The birds are fertilizing the garden for me basically.

Nature does a lot of the work in the garden.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Oh no sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm not trying to scare them off, I'm trying to get them to leave a 'packet' of phosphorus when they come eat the sunflowers. The birds are fertilizing the garden for me basically.

Nature does a lot of the work in the garden.

Thanks for clearing that up. Was starting to get high hopes.

Nature does do a lot of work it the garden, but there can't be a garden without seeds.

 

[catjac1975]

 

[catjac1975]

Sunflower fields 4-eva.

 

[AMKuska]

These are mammoth, taken from a second story window at my daughters house.
They were about 12' tall.

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I have tried so many times to plant them, I think something digs them up.
But last year I had a herd of chipmunks going around planting clumps of sunflower seeds ...everywhere!
Sure, it's okay when they plant them...... so I let them grow ...

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I bought some seeds this year to try again and will try to start some inside, in paper pots.
Mammoth Russian.

It's funny you mention that. I've tried for 3 years to grow sunflowers, no success. The day the squirrel plants them, they pop up like daisies. I'll be putting out a sunflower feeder next year and tend what ever the squirrels plant.