Firmly Rooted

Outdoors Firmly Rooted

I want to Grow

By Tori Carver

This month’s flower spotlight is the beloved sunflower. Would you believe I have a like/dislike relationship with sunflowers? As a home gardener, I tried to grow sunflowers for many years and finally gave up. Improper soil? Not enough sunlight? Bird and pest pressure? Who knows, but I had a bitter taste every time someone mentioned their love of sunflowers. Fast forward a dozen years and I am a flower farmer who grows sunflowers. What?!? I believe they call that “full circle”.

During my extensive research prior to taking the flower farming plunge, every book and article I read encouraged growing sunflowers. In a nutshell, every flower farmer worth their salt grew them. I’ll be honest when I say my heart sunk every time I read sunflowers were a “must”. I knew from experience I couldn’t grow them, so I assumed I was destined for failure. Much like everything with flower farming, I dove in headfirst and committed to growing sunflowers… or at least giving it a noble effort. I applied what I had learned and I’m happy to say my first harvest was quite exhilarating. An interesting little tidbit I learned is sunflowers don’t have to be those giant flowers that tower above and have heads the size of Rhode Island. The secret to producing blooms that work well in arrangements is spacing them close together. Planting them 6 inches apart will produce smaller stems and manageable sized flower heads.

In addition to spacing them close together, I start my sunflower seeds in trays and transplant the seedlings into the garden when they are 4 to 6 inches tall as opposed to direct seeding. While this is an extra step, I’ve found that I have much less loss due to bird (and probably rabbit) pressure. One year I tried putting those little green plastic berry baskets over each seed when I direct seeded so the birds couldn’t reach the new sprouts. It worked great except every time it rained or strong winds came through, I was chasing little green baskets all over the garden. Definitely not the best use of my time. I’m now a firm believer in starting seeds in trays.

Sunflowers take 55 to 65 days to mature and only produce one flower per stem. There are also branching varieties but I’ve found they take up more space than I am willing to part with at this time. Because single sunflowers are such a quick crop, I succession plant. I plant seeds every week or two throughout the season so I’ll have a constant supply until late September. I grow a large variety of colors that range from the traditional yellow with dark brown center to a lemony yellow, golden yellow with green center, and even dark red and white varieties. While sunflowers may never hold the coveted “favorite” flower spot in my heart, they are firmly rooted in my top ten.

Sunflowers are currently available for porch pick up so be sure and check out my Instagram and Facebook page @firmlyrootedflowerfarm for availability.

Victoria (Tori) Carver is a flower farmer. From the thousand bulbs and plants that she puts in the ground each year she creates lovely bouquets. Many enjoy her flowers in their home each week. She has established a subscription program for her customers or a honor-system bouquet sales for random purchases. Tori and her husband and children make their home in Clayton, where they are a treasured part of the community. If you are interested in Firmly Rooted Flower Farm please reach out by email to firmlyrootedflowerfarm@gmail.com or phone 706-490-0041. You will also enjoy their website at www.firmlyrootedflowerfarm.com