Cheerful and charming Sunflowers

From skyscraping stems to container-friendly options - all in a range of warm colours - it's little wonder that helianthus are hot favourites for late summer, says Louise Curley

- Louise Curley

IF you’re looking for a cheery shot of summer colour, annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) take some beating. They’re also easy to grow  from seed, which makes the very tall, single-stemmed varieties such as ‘Russian Giant’ and ‘Kong’ – with their huge flower heads in sunshine yellow – firm favourites with children aiming to grow a record-breaker. But there’s a lot more to this plant than cultivating giants.

You can get dwarf sunflowers (perfect for container growing or planting at the front of a border), midheight types that look good mixed in among perennials, and taller varieties that are ideal for the back of a border.

While classic sunflowers have a single ring of bright-yellow petals around a central disc, there are a surprising number of different flower types, too, from semi-doubles with a few extra layers of petals to doubles with huge, frilly blooms. And when it comes to colours, it’s not all yellow. Options range from dark reds, rusty oranges and pale yellows to creamy white, either singly or in vibrant two-tone mixes.

Multi-stemmed types

Anyone aiming to grow a giant should go for a single-stemmed variety – it will put all its energy into producing one solitary bloom atop a colossal stalk. But for a mass of flowers all summer long, choose from the multi-stemmed, branching sunflower varieties.

Some helianthus have been bred to be pollen-free; this can be a useful characteristic if you want to cut them for flower arranging, as the pollen has a tendency to drop once the flowers are picked, making a mess. However, sterile flowers are a controversial topic because breeding plants to be pollenfree makes them less useful sources of food for bees.