Sunflower

Latin name: Helianthus annuus

🌱 Days to Sprout: 10-14

😋 Plant food: after true leaves 

✂️ Thin to: 1 plant per yCube

🍅 Days to Maturity: 65-75

💡 Light Zone: Maximum

📏 Plant Size: 1 ft

💚 Care Level: Intermediate

Sunflowers are native to North America and were first cultivated by Indigenous Americans over 4,500 years ago. Their English name comes from the plant’s tendency to turn toward the sun throughout the day, following it across the sky. The flower is associated with happiness, positivity, and hope.

This is the smallest existing sunflower variety to date. It is a pollen-free, seedless hybrid that quickly produces small, bright yellow flowers with a round black center. When pruned attentively, Sunflowers create 3-4 waves of blooms! The flower petals are edible and have a slightly nutty flavor.

Enjoy the summer vibes of this iconic flower any time of year on your Gardyn or in any room with the Gardyn Vase. Try Sunflowers’ edible petals by adding them to your favorite dish for a delicious, nutty flavor. Newly sprouted Sunflowers also make delicious microgreens!

✂️ Pruning: Check the roots monthly and trim any that are brown or extending past the yPod. To encourage new flower bud development, remove dead flower heads by snipping at flowers’ individual stems, known as deadheading. 

🔎 Plant Health: Aphids are a common pest, but you can use our prevention and treatment tricks to keep pests at bay!

🌻 Harvest: To use the flower petals, harvest by snipping off flowers at their individual stems, then plucking the petals from the flower head. To enjoy as a cut flower, harvest by cutting the flower just before it blooms, when the petals are close to opening, and place in water. Alternatively, you can place the whole plant in a Gardyn Vase to enjoy its beauty in any room, cut-free!

Our Plant Health & Nutrition Team thoroughly tests each variety we offer to bring you the most flavorful and high-quality plants. We regularly rotate our plant portfolio, so please note, availability varies.