PLANTS : Indoors or Out, There Is a Bunch of Uses for Bright Sunflowers

There’s nothing like bright yellow sunflowers to put a smile on your face--whether you have them growing in your garden or are bringing them indoors.

When using sunflowers fresh or for drying, harvest them in midmorning when the blooms are almost completely open and the sun has burned off the morning dew. Cut the stems long.

As soon as possible, plunge the stems into a deep bucket of warm water and move them to a cold storage area--a cool cellar or garage will work.

Store the flowers until you arrange them that evening or the next morning.

If you plan to dry the flowers, start processing them as soon as possible. To dry with the stems intact, hang individual flowers (not bunches) upside down.

Hanging them in this manner produces a twisted and tattered look that crafters desire in some design work. To dry just the flower head and one-half inch of stem, desiccant drying is recommended.

Because moisture causes premature fading, protect dried flowers from high humidity. If you don’t plan to arrange your dried sunflowers right away, put them in a sealed plastic container (do not use cardboard) and store them in a cool, dry room away from light.

The sunflower’s name comes from two Greek nouns-- helios, the sun, and anthus, flowers. Though we recognize the annual varieties, many flower-garden varieties grow in a range of colors as smaller-flowered branching perennials.

The familiar giant sunflower reigns as the Kansas state flower, but some farmers still consider all sunflowers weeds.

It would be hard to find a more versatile plant.

Sunflowers have economic as well as ornamental value. When cultivated as a cash crop, its leaves feed livestock, the flowers produce a yellow dye, pressed seeds yield cooking oil and dried seeds become tasty nut-like snacks for humans and birds.

Nearly two-thirds of the approximately 60 species of sunflowers worldwide grow in in the United States and in southern Canada as native plants.

As its name implies, the sunflower grows best in spots where it receives eight or more hours of sunlight per day. All relatively tall, these annuals and perennials range from three to 12 feet in height.

Sunflowers prefer moist soil but when mature will tolerate drought.