We love growing sunflowers. Harvested at the correct stage, they win almost every vase life test hands down. Their cheerfulness is unrivaled, and if you think that bright yellow is your only color option, I’ve got some fantastic news for you!
At Triple Wren we focus on growing for cut flowers, so we choose pollenless varieties for our fields. No one enjoys cleaning up loads of yellow powder from the kitchen counter or bedside table, so we use sunnies that leave “no trace.” Know though, that the fact that they’re pollenless doesn’t affect the bees or other pollinators – they still come to visit for loads of healthy nectar. These varieties don’t produce “open-pollinated” seeds, or put another way, they don’t reproduce themselves via “pollen-mixing.” The pollinators still benefit from the flowers, but reproduction isn’t happening.
If you’re growing sunflowers to cut and enjoy indoors, here’s a “pro tip” for you: Cut them as soon as the first petal or two lifts, when they’re still fairly tight, and then bring them inside. They’ll keep opening and last a lo-o-o-ong time in the vase. If you wait until they’re fully open (or even more than half open) outdoors, they won’t last nearly as long in your home.
We also love any flower that makes our heart race… so we plant just as many plum, strawberry, white, chocolate, and double sunflowers as we do traditional orange and yellow ones. Here are a few of our favorites
Procut Plum and Strawberry Blonde (very similar to each other!) Photo below by Dani Winters.
Procut White Nite (Arrangement by Caroline Arnhart)
Procut Red and Moulin Rouge (Rouge Royal may be more commonly available than Moulin; photo below by Chickadee Floral)
Sunrich Gold
Greenburst (photo below by Chickadee Floral)
Procut Orange (Photo below by Dani Winters.)
Procut White Lite
We don’t sell sunflower seeds from Triple Wren, but you can find many beautiful ones at Johnny Seeds and Floret Flowers (they have lots of boutique, unique choices and excellent growing education/info!)
Happy growing, flower friends!
