Gardening: Avoiding a Sunflower Mess

A lone sunflower (Helianthus) in our community garden plot got off to a slow start from seeds I planted along its edge. Then the weather became perfect for it. Soon it was over six feet tall. It was not at all what I expected when the seed packet said "good cut flower." I imagined a single stalk that was two feet tall at the maximum.

Instead the tall central stalk sent off a whirl of individual flower stalks emanating from it but with the unusual burnt orange-shaded gradient-colored petals I had hoped for. Sunflower varieties that do this are referred to as "branching."

There are a few things that distinguish a "good cut flower." They are long sturdy stems (unless you are looking to make a little hand held bouquet), long vase life and, particularly when it comes to sunflowers, being "pollenless." Pollenless sunflowers were introduced in 1988 and reportedly have a longer vase life than other sunflowers.

You can see from the photo that this variety did not meet the last criteria. Like a pet shedding it had to be cleaned up after regularly. With plant pollen in general it is best to sweep it dry because it can stain when wet. Even dry it can permanently stain a tablecloth.

The ultimate mess was leaving the bunch behind while being gone for a number of days. Then the teeny tiny caterpillars emerged from each center and made the very, very long trek across the dining room floor to the patio door hoping apparently to escape to the outdoors. They were congregated in the corners and left droppings on the floor. Perhaps there was the faintest hint of a draft. I found it quite intriguing that something so small would make such a long journey in hopes of escape back to the place it belonged.

Whether it was the caterpillar droppings or blackened pollen, the kitchen counter back where they started was now covered with more black particles than it had been with pollen. So if you want cut flowers the key is to look for the specific statement that they are pollenless.

So here is a list of pollenless sunflowers. I would recommend dipping the center in water briefly to flush out any unwanted visitors.

Better bicolor choices for me would have been:

'Infrared Mix' – a variety of reds and oranges

'Strawberry Blonde'-bicolor pinkish orange

I also like:

'Double Dandy' – dwarf red

'Go Bananas' – yellow with bent petals

'Moonshadow'- creamy

Then there is:

'Chianti' – deep red

'Del Sol'- yellow with dark center

'Firecracker' – yellow bicolor dwarf

'Lemon Aura'- yellow burst of petals

'Lemon Éclair'- yellow dahlia-like petals

'Moulin Rouge' – dark burgundy

'Sunbeam'- yellow with halo

'Sunbright' – great for drying

'Sunrich Lemon'- yellow with dark center

'Sunny Smile' – yellow short

'Sunrich Orange'- pale orange