‘The Birds & Bees Sunflowers’ Songbird/Pollinator Flower Seeds

Sunflower - Birds & Bees (Heirloom) - Helianthus annuus Annual - Enhance your garden's eco-system with these sturdy, 6 - 8' tall sunflowers whose golden-yellow petals and chocolate centers seem to literally follow the sun. During blooming season they offer a rich pollen and nectar source for foraging honey bees, native bees and any other garden pollinators. At maturity, these black seeded sunflowers provide particularly oil-rich kernels with somewhat softer shells than others, yielding seed for visiting birds. Soil & Water: Make several sowings several weeks apart to have a succession of flowers in full bloom.

Variety Details

• Botanical name: Helianthus annuus
• Plant type: Annual
• Growth habit: Upright
• Crop category: Flower seed
• Flower character: Soil & Water: Make several sowings several weeks apart to have a succession of flowers in full bloom.
• Recorded feature: Good Cut Flower
• Product format: Seed packet

Sowing & Growing

• Soil Temperature: above 50°F
• Planting Depth: 1"
• Germination: 8-10 Days
• Height At Maturity: 6-7 feet
• Sun/Shade: Full Sun
• Spacing After Thinning: 12"

Prepare a weed-reduced seedbed for ‘The Birds & Bees Sunflowers’ Songbird/Pollinator Flower and use the recorded planting season, depth, and light requirements. Press shallow-sown seed into good soil contact and keep the seed zone from drying during establishment. Thin or transplant only when the growth habit and spacing call for it. Leave enough room for mature width and air movement. Bloom timing and final height can shift with sowing date, climate, soil, moisture, and competition, so use listed figures as planning ranges.

Place ‘The Birds & Bees Sunflowers’ Songbird/Pollinator Flower where its recorded height and growth habit fit the surrounding planting. Shorter companions can be positioned toward bed edges, while taller stems need room where they will not shade small seedlings too early. If cutting flowers, harvest with clean tools at the stage appropriate to the bloom form. If leaving flowers in place, observe how bloom sequence changes through the season and record which sowing date performed best at the site.

Explore related options in our Flower Seeds.