By Donna Birch
Modesto BeeThey have been written about in poems, song and literature. Artists have captured their beauty on canvas. Children are delighted and intrigued by them.
Sunflowers. Though no one has officially given them the title, plenty of gardeners and flower lovers consider the big, yellow posies the flower of summer.
"They're bright and cheery," said Deborah Ferreira of Fresh Ideas Flower Co., a wholesale flower market in Modesto, Calif. "(People) think of the sun and summer when they see sunflowers."
The annuals typically bloom from mid- to late-summer, until the first frost.
In the garden, children and adults plant sunflowers, watching them progress from seedlings to statuesque plants that tower over other flora. And when growers get a really tall one (6 feet or taller), they look like miniature versions of the sun set atop thick, green stalks and with round faces and yellow petals that resemble the sun's rays.
Sunflowers are a multi-purpose plant. Besides being ornamental, they are a source food for animals and humans. Those who want to attract birds to their garden can plant varieties that produce seeds (humans harvest the seeds, too).
In several parts of the United States, commercial growers cultivate sunflowers for oil. In parts of Europe, just about every part of the plant is used for something: the leaves for smoking, flower buds for salads, flowers for dyes and oil for cooking.
The plant's scientific name, helianthus, stems from "helios" meaning sun and "anthos" meaning flower. The flower, native to North America, got its name in part because its head follows the sun throughout the day from east to west.
Want to show someone how much they are adored? Give them a sunflower bouquet, as the flowers represent adoration, pride and loyalty.
At Fresh Ideas, which supplies a number of local retailers with fresh-cut flowers, sunflowers are currently the most popular bouquets.
Whether you want gigantic sunflowers to make a towering sunflower house (the sunflowers comprise the walls and cascading morning glories make up the roof) or smaller ones for cut flower arrangements, there are varieties to suit a number of tastes.
Seed companies such as Burpee and Lilly Miller carry a number of choices. Lilly Miller's sunspot seeds produce flowers that grow to 30 inches in height. Burpee's cyclops produces 14-inch flowers; the plants grow as tall as 15 feet.
Mixed seed packets, such as Burpee's Sunflower Fun 'n Sun Hybrid Mix and Lilly Miller's Autumn Beauty Mix, produce 6-inch to 8-inch flowers in shades of yellow, gold, red and bicolor.
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