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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Sunflowers
Recipes
Cooking Notes
Just one ounce of sunflower seeds contains about 6 grams of protein and 14 grams of oils. The fats are almost entirely unsaturated with 9g of polyunsaturated and 3g of monounsaturated fats per ounce (NSA). The oil is high in linoleic acid and is a good source of vitamin E.
- Some varieties produce small black seeds used in cooking oil, margarine, cosmetics, and animal feed; they are the best sunflower seeds for attracting the greatest variety of songbirds.
- The bigger, striped seeds are grown for snacking and as an ingredient in bread and health foods. They, too, are used for feeding birds, especially larger species, such as jays and mourning doves.
How to Roast Sunflower Seeds
Re-soak seeds overnight in salted water. Run through a strainer and dry on a layer of paper towels.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 325 degrees on a baking sheet. Seeds should be spread out in a single layer. Stir frequently during the baking and remove seeds when they look slightly browned. Don’t burn!
That’s it! You can add some olive oil, salt, and spices to your roasted seeds if you wish.
Or, you can also make suet cakes for the winter birds! See how to make suet.
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We have a sunflower growing in our garden that must have come from a seed that was dropped by the birds feeding out of the bird feeder. It surprised us when we saw it growing.
Does anyone have issue with big black ants the sunflowers? I have tried everything lots ot get them off but they do not seem to go anywhere . Any ideas ?
The ants are there because of pests called aphids. The ants are attracted to the aphids’ sweet nectar and “farming” them. If you spray water to dislodge aphids, the ants will also go away.
It's a nice thing to see and know the beautiful flower resembling the sun on earth.
Sunflowers can't be too picky! Our birds plant them every year & we always have a strong bed of them the next.
Does anyone have recommendations on best sunflower seed brands?
That depends upon you! What are you looking for? I plant mostly for the birds, so I buy bags of the White Stripped Bird Seed, Sunflower seeds & simply scatter them into the bed, then cover them with MiracleGro for flowers. At other times I planted fancy colors & different heights, which were "nice," but really it didn't make a big difference to me when all was said & done so back I went to the Bird Seed.
Hi, Mel. You really can’t go wrong with Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Eden Brothers, Burpee, or Gurney’s. You can also check garden centers in your area—we bet the seeds are out!
I had several sunflowers that grew wild this year. Will they come back next year or do I need to harvest the seeds and replant in the Spring?
If they grew wildly and some of the seeds fell to the ground, it is possible that they will grow back again.
To help this happen and if all possible, check to see if there were any seeds that fell to the ground around the sunflowers or harvest some from the flower if possible.
If you do find or harvest some, I suggest digging small holes about 2-3 inches deep and about 6-9 inches apart, dropping seeds in there.
I stagger my rows and as they grow, you may find that some flowers are not as strong and keeping up. I usually end up removing about 25% of the young flowers and will either try to transplant them or grind them up and use as fertilizer for the remaining sunflowers. I believe that this helps the healthy sunflowers thrive more.
Be sure to water the young seedlings once a day and never directly on top of them. I soak around the flower bed and in the rows between where I planted and will occasionally add some sort of diluted fertilizer maybe once a week during the early stages. As the flowers mature, they won't need to be watered as frequently (unless drought) and it is suggested that mature sunflowers need watering once or twice a week with a decent soaking and again, never on or at the base of the flowers but about 12 inches away from the stems so that you are soaking the roots.
Over the course of the spring and summer, I plant and grow about 100 sunflowers and throughout the season due to culling, weather, critters, or other reasons, will lose about half of the lot. It kind of sucks losing so many but the ones that are remaining, they look great. They line my side yard along the fence and I get compliments all summer long.
On average, I usually get sunflowers 6-8 feet tall with the occasional 10+ footers. The tallest one I ever had came in at 12 feet-2 inches.
Hopefully this helps and good luck!