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SUNFLOWER GUIDES

bright yellow sunflowers with frilly petals growing in a large field in a drift

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Sunflowers grow their flowered reward very quickly after planting and in profusion , but they also have other pleasing characteristics .

For object lesson , as the flower are a source of ambrosia , they will draw butterflies and bees to your garden in copiousness .

Helianthus annuus growing in a field in front of a blue sky with big yellow flowers

When they have withered , they organize sunflower cum which can be used for all your culinary needs and as a germ of solid food for the wildlife in your garden .

Most of all though , it ’s the very with child flowers , their uncomplicated daisy - like form , the magnificent chickenhearted colour , and their peak that make helianthus so attractive .

Underneath , I spill you through my favorite 20 sunflower varieties , take for a wide pick of prime forms and colours , that can be found easily here in the UK .

creamy pale yellow florets adorning the brown centre of a sunflower ‘valentine’ variety

Other than where note , they blossom through most of the summertime and are annuals .

1)Helianthus annuus

Native to a swath of kingdom from the central belt of the United States to that of Mexico , the common sunflower is found on prairies , grassland and disturbed basis .

This tough one-year ego - semen pronto and has become naturalised in many geographical regions outside North America .

The plants are typically about 3 m tall .

large brown disk floret from a H. annuus ‘Sunsation Yellow’ with curled yellow petals and large heart-shaped leaves

The large leavesare well known forbeing hairy and affectionateness - shaped , whilst the flowers are Brobdingnagian at 25 - 30 cm across .

On the species plant , the disc florets are in varying rich shade of brownness and the ray florets are a brilliant , gay icteric .

2)H. annuus‘Valentine’

arise to just over 1 m and with flowers measuring 15 - 17 atomic number 96 in diameter , ‘ Valentine ’ produces amongst the lightest - color sunflower – or the disconsolate , depending on your point of prospect .

The rays are a pallid , lemony yellow , sometimes even a pale ointment .

However , the disc is dark brown , sometimes well-nigh inglorious !

sunflower ‘little leo’ with a large deep brown central disk and layered triangular petals in yellow

Either way , this is definitely the helianthus with the most contrasting colours and it has been credited with the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

3)H. annuus‘Garden Statement’

About 90 centimetre tall , ‘ Garden Statement ’ is a comparatively new cultivar that is apace derive popularity .

It has promiscuous , hopeful , lemony - yellow rays of a crinkly grain and a disk that is a drinking chocolate brown shade .

Though this cultivar has a narrowish profile , quite interestingly , it has the fillip of being a multi - stalked type , spend a penny it more of a distinctive garden plant .

large yellow centre and frilly yellow inflorescences of a titan sunflower plant

4)H. annuus‘Sunsation Yellow’

Technically qualifying as a dwarf variety at 75 cm tall , ‘ Sunsation Yellow ’ gasconade the plus item of a relatively longsighted blooming time of year that go well into fall .

Its 15 - 17 cm across-the-board efflorescence are a right lemon yellow , with ample , cocoa - brown discs .

This plant has receive the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

tall upright stem bearing serrated leaves and a large flower head from a H. annuus ‘Russian Giant’

5)H. annuus‘Pacino Gold’

Only about 65 cm tall , ‘ Pacino Gold ’ is another midget variety .

A percipient plus point is that this branching variety show is especially floriferous .

It has very bright sunny yellow rays centred by an amber disc so that the entire flower is rather lighter in shade than those of most varieties .

a bee resting on the brown central disk of a sunflower ‘helios flame’ with yellow petals stained with orange

6)H. annuus‘Little Leo’

by all odds a dinky midget variety at only 50 cm , ‘ Little Leo ’ live on up to its billing .

It is a fork or multi - stalked type and the flowers are a brilliantly sunny , sulfur yellow .

It blooms from too soon to mid - summer and lasts well into fall .

a ‘velvet queen’ sunflower head

7)H. annuus‘Titan’

At the opposite death of the sizing spectrum , ‘ Titan ’ , a giant sunflower salmagundi , grow between 3 - 4 m high .

Its flower , held aloft , have a light brown disk surrounded by bright sunny - yellow to sulphur - yellow petals .

These flowers are truly made for titans , having a brain - bowl over width of nearly 50 cm .

large heart-shaped serrated leaves protruding from the upright stems of a sunflower ‘ruby sunset’ with red and orange flower heads

8)H. annuus‘Giraffe’

Reaching a astonishing height of about 4.5 mebibyte , which is taller than some Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , the competently - name ‘ Giraffe ’ is a giant helianthus .

A point worth notice is that its stem , besides being long , is also quite solid .

Not only is this cultivar super grandiloquent , but its blossom are also monumental , often 30 centimetre in diam or even more .

deep red flower from a H. annuus ‘Claret’ with a black central disc

They bloom from mid - summertime to former fall .

9)H. annuus‘Russian Giant’

While ‘ Russian Giant ’ is the least grandiloquent of our giant helianthus selections at 2.5 - 3 m tall , it grow sincerely gargantuan blossom at 30 centimeter across .

The rays ’ colouring material motley from sunny yellowness to sulphur yellow to a sensational gilded tint .

The platter is uniformly chocolate brown .

lots of ‘Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl’ flower heads

This cultivar seems to be especially attractive to bee , butterflies and birds .

10)H. annuus‘Kong’

At 4 molar concentration high , ‘ Kong ’ is not quite as tall as the fabled giant gorilla , but it is very much a giant among its kith and kin .

A material plus point is that this elephantine cultivar is a separate character , so it bears multiple prime on each base .

The big 16 - 18 cm flower are centred by a rich brown disc surrounded by every bit rich deep yellow beam of light .

rosette-forming yellow flower atop a dark green stem from helianthus ‘loddon gold’

11)H. annuus‘Helios Flame’

‘ Helios Flame ’ is a rarity among sunflower , being by rights bi - non-white .

The near - black discs are surround by rays that are delicious mahogany at their medial halves , bleed with streaks into a brilliant , bolt down yellow .

The flowers are control on very sturdy stems .

Maximilian sunflowers with lanceolate leaves, long and narrow yellow petals and a black centre

This cultivar is of medium height , towering at about 1.8 m.

12)H. annuus‘Copper Queen’

Of an medium height of 1.8 m , what distinguishes ‘ Copper Queen ’ from the others on this list is the colour of its rays – they are out - and - out orange .

The central disc is very colored brown , adding to the dramatic chromaticity of this cultivar ’s flower .

It has a longer bloom time of year than most other kind .

13)H. annuus‘Velvet Queen’

get to a pinnacle of around 1.5 thou and bring forth flowers of average size and which has a corresponding average blooming season , ‘ Velvet Queen ’ is actually a very special cultivar .

The reason is that it produces fantastic bloom that are of a riveting coppery crimson hue with a clearly velvety lustre .

14)H. annuus‘Ruby Sunset’

Also of a nondescript altitude draw near 1.5 MB and also producing flowers of an fair size , ‘ Ruby Sunset ’ is also very much a special cultivar .

Again , it is because of the intense hue .

Centred by a productive brown disc , the flowers are a electrifying coppery ruby - red .

15)H. annuus‘Claret’

dingy drama is the name of the secret plan here .

To start with , the stalk expect the bloom of this sort are a sour bronzy - unripe colour .

Then , the flowers are in a shade that varies from that of a red bordeaux to that of a tawny port .

What ’s more , these thrilling blooms are centred by a mordant phonograph record .

The flowers are of a sizeable width of 12 - 15 cm and the works rise to around 1.6 - 1.8 m.

‘ Claret ’ has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

16)H. annuus‘Black Magic’

in all likelihood more difficult to source than most of our other selections , ‘ Black Magic ’ produces a take - your - breath - away flower .

skirt a laborious black disk , the ray start smutty , then fade to a maroon , finish up a coppery - red at the tips .

At 1.2 m improbable , this cultivar is quite compendious .

It is of a furcate case and show off its unbelievable , one - of - a - kind flowers virtually all summer long .

17)H. annuus‘Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl’

A comparatively new cultivar appear around 2018 , ‘ Sunbelievable Brown Eyed Girl ’ contract the bronze medal at that twelvemonth ’s Chelsea Flower Show and it is loose to see why.1Rice , G. ( 2018b , September 28 ) . Graham Rice ’s new plants web log : new everblooming sunflower . Royal Horticultural Society . Retrieved March 24 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants-blogs/plants/august-2018/helianthus-annuus-sunbelievable

It bring about a gorgeous bloom , is prolific and floriferous , and it blooms all summer and autumn long !

The lovely bi - dark flower is centred by a calamitous - dark-brown magnetic disk .

The petals commence gold - mahogany and transition to hopeful gay yellow .

Of an unco bushy strain , this dwarf potpourri is 60 atomic number 96 tall with an equal spread .

It is a sterile , seedless miscellanea that is grown from cuttings .

18)H.‘Loddon Gold’

Is that a sunfloweror a marigold ?

‘ Loddon Gold ’ is a clump - mould perennial and has a very convenient height of 1.5 m.

Its coarse leave are more ovate than cordate .

As for the bloom , they are 10 - 12 cm across and are of a rich halcyon - yellowish tone .

They are dome - shaped , have minute re , and are in a fully forked bod .

This plant is a receiver of the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

19)H. scaberrimus

‘ Showy Sunflower ’ is another option for those who choose perennial and this species also has a thumping - forming habit .

Its leaves are different too , as they are serrate and oval-shaped .

The industrial plant rise to about 2 yard tall .

This species ’ flowers seem in recent summer to late autumn .

They are in tractor trailer to double form .

The rays are a light smart yellow and , at another stop of passing , the sluttish brown phonograph record are quite belittled and not as big as in most other varieties ’ flowers .

They are near 12 curium across .

20)H. maximiliani

A dissimilar mintage of helianthus , the Maximilian helianthus is a clump - forming perennial .

It is quite improbable and can grow beyond 2 m in height .

Unlike other helianthus , this variety has lanceolate leaves .

The rays are a very light chickenhearted with small , light brown pith .

On this species , flush are sustain along the length of the radical .

They are also scented , delicately but distinctly , which is an strange trait among sunflowers .

“ As a perennial rather than an annual , this species has the edge in terms of one-year gardening labour , ” pronounce Colin Skelly , a Horticultural Consultant .

“ It does n’t have the big discs associated with many of the annuals , but it more than makes up for it with multiple small disc that are tremendously   popular with pollinator in recent summer . A peachy perennial for the back   of the border . ”

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