sunflowers Archives - Mother 2 Mother Blog

7 Uses For Sunflowers

August 23, 2015 by Rhonda Gales

Today, I’m going to share a few gardening tips on uses for sunflowers. So, don’t throw those dried sunflowers away. First, I love the strength, grace and beauty of sunflowers in my garden. They’re one of my favorite summer flowers. I love sunflowers because they stand tall, erect and they’re showy. They tower above everything else in the garden, and their bright color makes an impact. Furthermore, there are different varieties to grace your garden and they all grow to various heights. This particular variety is the Russian Mammoth. It usually grows to about 10 or 11 feet. The fence in the background is 6 foot. So, it is truly massive. A bee is enjoying the pollen on the sunflower below.

It is true that sunflowers make a statement. But, did you know that every part of the sunflower is beneficial? Sunflowers are actually considered the cash crop. There are uses for flowers that include the seeds, petals, stalk, leaves and roots. Here are a few examples:

1. Seeds – Humans eat the seeds raw, roasted or dried. Therefore, they are a healthy snack and a great source of protein, Vitamins A, B, E and iron. I love the seeds raw in salads or roasted to snack on.

2. Birdseed Use – Birdseed mixtures often contain sunflower seeds. Furthermore, I actually leave the majority of my sunflowers in the garden for the cardinals and finches to enjoy. You will find black oil sunflower seeds in my bird feeders during the winter.

3. Petals – Additionally, sunflower petals can be dried and used along with other natural items for summer or fall potpourris.

Mammoth Sunflowers, sunflower variety, how to grow sunflowers

4. Leaves – Another use is the leaves. Also, sunflowers leaves can grow quite large and tasty. Sunflowers leaves are often used to feed livestock or seeped to make tea.

5. Stalks – Noteworthy, the stalks of sunflowers are strong. I actually use some of my sunflowers stalks as a trellis for my cucumbers. Consequently, you can cut the sunflowers off at the base and allow the stalks to dry over the winter. Next season you have a great source of poles to use as a trellis for your veggies. You can also break them in sections, dry them, and use them in fire pits or wood stoves over the winter.

6. Roots – Next, the roots of a sunflower can grow quite deep and large. As a result, they are used to make herbal medicine.

7. Dried Flowers – Last, sunflowers can be dried and used in floral arrangements. They are quite pretty in fall arrangements or on wreaths. Some of the best flowers for dried arrangements are those that are just opening. So, pick sunflowers before are they fully open. They will continue to open as they dry.

Finally, I hope that you like our uses for sunflowers and you will plant a few in your garden. It’s a great project to do with kids too. You may also like: How Make Bottle Greenhouses As a matter of fact, this is how I start my sunflower seeds.

Filed Under: Flower Gardens, Nature-Gardening Tagged With: gardening tips, kitchen gardens, sunflowers, vegetable gardening

Sunflowers and Finches In The Garden

July 25, 2014 by Rhonda Gales

I love sunflowers. They make me happy, look at their beauty faces. They dance in the garden and add brilliant color among the greenery. This is my fifth year growing sunflowers, and I’m in love. The first year, I didn’t have one seed germinate. However, I changed my method of germinating them, and bam! The key is to use bottle greenhouses to germinate sunflower seeds. Once the weather is good I transfer them to the garden. So, today let’s discuss how to attract the American Gold Finch. I have had great success using this method. Check out my other sunflower gardening tips before you leave.

Below are some of my favorite sunflowers varieties. I make sure they have a place in my backyard garden every year. The Gold Finches love my sunflowers as much as I do. They bring beauty to my backyard. I love sitting on my deck watching the Goldfinch feast on the sunflower seeds. Unfortunately, the lens on my camera doesn’t capture the beauties in the garden. I guess I shouldn’t blame the lens, I need to learn how to use my camera!

Autumn Beauty

These are Autumn Beauties. I love their brownish yellow color. It reminds me of fall, my favorite time of year. I stagger my sunflower seedlings when planting them in the garden to ensure I have sunflowers for fall. The Autumn Beauty is beautiful in fall centerpieces.

Mammoth

This variety is the Russian Mammoth. It grows anywhere from 10 – 12+ feet tall. The fence behind it is 6 feet. As a result, it towers above the smaller varieties making a grand display in my backyard garden.

Lemon Queen

So, my favorite sunflower is the Lemon Queen. It’s much smaller compared to the Mammoth. It only grows to about 5 feet. I plant the Mammoth between the Lemon Queen and Autumn Beauties so there can be some depth in the garden.

In a few weeks, the centers will be filled with sunflower seeds and the American Gold Finch will have a new feeder. Right now they are enjoying the Nyjer Seed in the sock and tube feeder.

Furthermore, when the sunflowers mature, the finches will eat every seed on the stalks if I don’t remove the heads. Because they are so beautiful the majority of the time I just let them eat until their heart is content. Take a close look at the pictures, because there’s 2 males and a female in this picture. The female is the dull colored finch at the top. However, the males turns the same dull color as the female in the fall/winter. They “color up” in the spring and summer to the brilliant color shown.

Also, this feeding station is outside my bedroom window. I have a Nyjer Thistle feeder and a seed sock at the feeding station. The finches will come to both. As a result, I hang both of the feeders. Some days I may have 10 or 12 American Goldfinch feasting on the Nyjer Thistle. So, the finches head to the seed sock first for some reason. They will feed from the tube feeder, which is my preference for them. Simply because of their aerobatic moves on the perches.

Finally, next year I hope to add additional varieties of sunflowers to the garden. Do you grow sunflowers? What variety do you grow? Grab a few packs of sunflower seeds, and use my bottle greenhouse method to germinate them for your garden. Also, purchase the thistle and feeders. You’ll be enjoying these beauties in your backyard too.

Filed Under: Backyard Birds, Nature-Gardening Tagged With: backyard birds, backyard gardens, kitchen gardens, sunflowers

My 2014 Vegetable Garden Plan

March 27, 2014 by Rhonda Gales

Spring is here and I’m making plans for my 2014 vegetable garden. This is a picture of a few of my sunflowers from last year’s garden. It was quite productive. I’m planning to put more flowers into my garden and cut back on the peppers this year since I have a nice supply stored. My pepper focus will be belles this year for vegetable trays and the freezer.

I started my seeds this week and have several that have germinated already. I use my laundry room to start my seeds since they don’t need light to germinate. I like to grow everything from seed, because it’s cheaper than purchasing plants from a garden center and because it gives me a jump start on the growing season. Direct sowing everything can be quite challenging.

I purchase my peat pots on clearance each year from Big Lots or the Dollar Store and save them for the next season. Each pot is filled with a seed starting mix, I use Miracle Gro, watered from the bottom by placing them in a tray filled with water, and covering them with Saran Wrap, which helps keep the pot moist and assists with germination. Once the seeds have germinated, I immediately move them under this grow light to keep them warm and assist with growth. My grow light is 4 foot long, so I’m able to get quite a few pots under it, and I raise the light as they get taller.

Here’s my list of seed starts for 2014. I only plant vegetables that I will eat, can or freeze:

Fruit:

2 Sugar Baby Watermelons
1 Yellow Watermelon
2 Hales Cantaloupe

Misc.

2 Crookneck Squash
2 Zucchini

Tomatoes:

1 Mortgage Lifter
1 Paul Robeson
1 Tiffen Mennonite
1 Oxheart
1 Early Girl
1 Delicious
1 Cherokee Purple
1 Red Brandywine
1 Sweet 100

Herbs:

2 Spicy Globe Basil
2 Genovese Basil
1 Oregano
2 Dill (Use to make dill and spicy hot pickles)
2 Cilantro (Use to make salsa)

Peppers:

1 White Belle
1 Golden Wonder
1 Mixed (It will be a surprise)
1 Jalapeno

I will be direct sowing the following:

Greens:

Blue Lake Greenbeans (Pole)
Jade Greenbeans (Bush)
Butter Crunch Lettuce
Noble Spinach

Cucumbers:

Boston Pickling
Marketmore
Lemon
Salt and Pepper

Garlic (Already growing)
Red Onions
Carrots

Not sure I will get 100% germination, but I’m hoping for at least 80%. I currently have 1 1/2 flats on the heating pads to germinate and about 6 starts that have already sprouted under the grow lights. I’m hoping to have the 1/2 flat germinated by next week. Stay tuned.