Is there anything more cheerful than a sunflower? There are so many different kinds of sunflowers that it's a little overwhelming sorting through the different types of seeds to decide what to plant. The two main categories are branching and single stem sunflowers. Underneath these two categories, there are dozens and dozens of each!
This year I chose to try to get a jump start on the season and planted white sunflowers out on March 1st. That's almost a month and a half earlier than normal, but it worked! I had to cover them with frost cloth so they'd be warm enough, but they arrived the week AFTER Mother's Day! Sometimes you just can't predict when your flowers will bloom despite the best planning. In working with Mother Nature, you can only do so much.
The main varieties I'm growing this year are Procut White Light, Vincent's Choice, Procut Plum, Procut Red, and a Chocolate Sunflower. The lighter sunflowers I grow for late spring, Vincent Choice (orange) for Summer, and the Plum, Red, and Chocolate varieties will be for the fall. These are each pollen-less, single-stem sunflowers meaning they won't dust your table with little yellow pollen flecks. What do you think of sunflowers? I hope they make you smile when you see them in your bouquets!