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June 2004
Native
Americans have used wild sunflower for
food and medicine for at least 8,000 years, but I only started
planting them a couple of years ago. This year is no exception.
First one just bloomed 2 weeks ago and several more seem
close. I usually grow the kinds with edible seeds, but I
can't remember which seeds I planted this year. I do know
I put in at least a few Russian Mammoth plants I got at the
local nursery, so at least there will be a few. So until
they open, I'll have no idea what color they are even going
to be. But no doubt they will be beautiful.
2002
Last
year all of my sunflowers were eaten by birds before they
even had a chance to grow. This year, instead of trying to
direct sow, I started the plants as seedlings, and the result is
spectacular growth that I never could have imagined. Several
different varieties of sunflowers were planted, with colors
including many shades of yellows, reds, oranges and golds,
head sizes ranging from med to very large, and overall plant
size ranging from 2ft to 6 ft. The sunflowers fill in a
space that is a narrow strip of land along the side of my
house and are planted right next to my rows of corn, as sunflowers
and corn are know to be companion plants that are mutually
beneficial. Best of all, this is the view I get from my
kitchen window.
I've
noticed some aphids & even little worms crawling around
on my sunflowers, but again, the Pyola worked
extremely well to control that problem.
And
it's only now as the light cycle changes that I'm noticing a
little mildew on the leaves (I live in a coastal area, so mildew
is a common problem to have here) Overall, this is an experiment
that went splendidly, and one wchih I will be repeating next
year. Although next year, I will also include sunflowers with
edible sees, something that this year, in my search for the
coolest colors, I did not remember to factor in to the equation.
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