… well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But they are hardworking plants. They make great cut flowers for late summer bouquets, attract pollinators into the garden, the seeds are edible, and they’re easy to grow… and grow tall, making them perfect to get competitive children interested in at least one aspect of gardening.
Earlier this year I was asked to source 10 different varieties of sunflower for someone who wanted to grow a whole range of heights, colours and flower sizes. I’ve been growing the same few sunflowers for years now… ‘Earthwalker’ and ‘Valentine’ for cutting, and ‘Vanilla Ice’ in the hope that one year it will produce enough decent flowers for me to cut even a small bunch. Given the limited range I was growing, it was going to take a bit of research to come up with a list. And once I started reading up on what seed was available, I realised just how many varieties there are. There’ a whole world of sunflowers out there, and they’re not all those yellow blooms perched on top of giant stems that grow so tall it’s almost impossible to see the bees bumbling about on the flower.
There are relatively tiny sunflowers, like ‘Big Smile’ and ‘Sunspot’ that grow to around 50cm and look fab in pots. Then there are the taller, but not too tall, plants… those that are just the right height to reach with scissors in hand for cutting. I’m adding ‘Soraya’ and ‘Claret’ to the list for next year’s cutting patch.
If seeds are what you’re after from your sunflowers – either for the garden birds or your own kitchen, ‘Hopi Black Dye’ is supposed to be good. It was grown by Native Americans and used as both a dye plant and for edible seeds. I haven’t been able to find a UK source for seeds of this variety so far… still looking though.
There’s even a sunflower for gardeners who don’t want to be sowing seed each year. ‘Lemon queen’ is perennial, and recommended for attracting bees and other pollinators.
So, after extensive research, my final list (or top ten) of sunflower varieties ended up like this. There were two dwarf varieties – ‘Chocolate’, a deep, dark red, and ‘Sunspot’, a more traditional yellow with a brown centre. Then there were the taller yellows – ‘Valentine’, ‘Ebony and gold’ which has flowers so typically sunflower-like they could come straight from the pages of a children’s book, and ‘Starburst lemon aura’ which is a double… not great for pollinators, but it adds a bit of variety to the list. ‘Italian white’ with its smaller, creamy white flowers and ‘Autumn beauty’ with flowers in shades from yellow through bronze to reddish brown. And then there are some reds… ‘Prado red’, ‘Red sun’ and ‘Velvet queen’.
Which sunflowers would you add to the list?
The Garden Deli 
What an interesting project, being asked to source 10 different types of sunflower. This is such a good post – thank you for the information, and beautiful pictures – reminds me of working in the Dordogne region of France late summer – fields and fields of bobbing happy heads!
Emma 🙂
Working in France must have been a wonderful experience – especially if you got to enjoy the sunflower fields!
Horizon Herbs, Williams, Oregon for ‘Hopi Black Dye’
Do they ship to the UK or will I need to visit?
Gorgeous photos. Love sunflowers in the garden. Pollinators adore them. Teddy Bear is a lovely dwarf variety. Thanks for the info 🙂
Thanks for the recommendation – Teddy Bear sounds like a good one to add to my own list for next year.
It’s a little beauty, and very compact!
They look like big fat dahlias! I am reading this while I have beside me 2 packets of ‘mammoth’ sunflower seed that arrived today. Never grown them before and sole reason I’ve bought these is for birds and bees attraction. Hope they turn out as pretty as some of those photos 🙂
Is ‘Mammoth’ one of those giant sunflowers that bring out the competitive side of gardeners? I’m looking forward to seeing a photo of you, dwarfed by a huge (mammoth?) flowering stem!
They are all lovely Sarah. I have only grown one dwarf sunflower this year, but it was quite pretty and should have some nice seeds for the birds.
The bird seed is another bonus… I’ve never yet managed to save any seed for the kitchen, the birds always get to it first!
I’ve tried Claret before, which I like, and I’ve got purple ones this year. They’re my favourites.
I like the darker shades too, although a few ‘traditional’ yellows with the chocolate brown centres are nice for contrast.
Not had any luck with sunflowers so far but am amazed after reading this that there are so many varieties. I particularly like the Native American one – hope you find a source for the seeds.
Thanks – I think I’ve found a seed company in the US who will ship internationally… well, my dad found them for me!
Brilliant!
So many different sunflowers. I love that deep pink one. The photos are stunning!
The deep pink sunflower is lovely – just wish I could remember its name!
this has been my first year growing sunflowers for cutting; it has been a revelation. I had Earthwalkers and Van Gogh mixed, all were wonderful and I’ve already bought other varieties to try for next year, love your reds!
Earthwalker is one of my favourite sunflowers – I love the way the bees end up dusted in pollen when they’ve been foraging on the flowers!
Beautiful post! I’m fascinated by all these different types. I have a sunflower post planned inspired by my allotment neighbours sunflower which is ginormous!
Ginormous sunflowers are always good… looking forward to reading your post!
Top post. I’m loving the red sunflowers and can’t wait to use our new plot for growing them next year.
Will you have space to grow a whole range of sunflowers at the new plot?
i grew sunflowers once but for some reason they all faced away from the sun and towards my neighbours’ fence! it was most bizarre. but you have inspired me to try again – anything that bring bees to the garden is a good thing. and there’s something about sunflowers that just makes me smile!
Sunflowers and smiling seem to go together! Don’t know why, but your comments are being held for moderation at the moment… have you been blacklisted by wordpress somewhere along the line?
Just re-resding this post and that photo of the big golden sunflower is stunning!
I usually have loads of self-seeded sunflowers but I wanted to grow just the shorter (5 ft) ones this year and the slugs had most of the seedlings! I’ve managed to grow one multi-headed one and a red one, ‘Claret’ I think, flowered last week. Definitely must try harder next year! Thanks for all the suggestions, there are some lovely ones there.
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