11:52am Saturday 24th October 2009
By Gina Parkinson
I DON’T seem to have been into the garden as much as I like over the past couple of weeks, other than planting the garlic, so it is satisfying to be able look from indoors and see the sunflowers in all their late-season glory.
They are magnificent despite only just getting around to blooming this month. It is a puzzle as to why it took until October for them to flower, but they have certainly made a grand entrance with more to come, weather willing.
The variety I have grown this year is Helianthus annus ‘Autumn Beauty’, a fairly tall type growing about three metres high. This is a multi-headed sunflower, which means it carries several flowers on branching stems towards the top of the main stem.
According to the packet, blooms are a mix of yellows, oranges and reds. Of the two in our garden, one is pure yellow while the second is striped yellow and brown. The seed packet also boasts that up to 22 flowers could be held on one stem and although mine haven’t quite got to that amount, there is still an impressive display.
The yellow one has four flowers fully open with five more buds in waiting, and the striped has seven blooming with four buds. A clump of perhaps five plants would give a spectacular display and is something that will be tried here next year.
Sunflowers don’t take up a lot of space once they have got to full height, but the young plants do need an open area in full sun in which to bask and grow. Being short of space, I decided to sow only half a dozen seeds and ended up with two plants that have made it to flowering adulthood.
This seems a poor rate, but two were eaten at an early stage while two others struggled in the wrong spot, shaded by other more vigorous plants. They were moved to a sunnier site, but never recovered from their poor start.
Since sunflowers are annual plants, their seed can be sown directly into the soil in May when the weather has warmed up and frost is less likely. At that time of year, germination can be as quick as a week or ten days, especially in warm spells, although cold may slow it down to three weeks or so. Once the shoots come through, they need to be protected from slugs and snails and will also need to be well watered if it is dry.
Sunflowers are drought tolerant once mature, but will suck the soil dry as they grow. They put on an enormous amount of growth in a short time, some giant varieties can get to four or five metres tall, while others support massive flower heads.
Lots of water and a fertile soil are necessary to fuel the growth. Rather than sowing sunflowers straight into the garden, an alternative is to put the seeds into individual pots of compost and allow them to germinate and grow into strong little plants before putting them out.
The advantage with this is the seeds can be sown earlier and grown on indoors, where they will be protected from the cold and from greedy molluscs. A March sowing should produce good-sized plants ready to be hardened off in May and planted out once the danger of frost has passed. Almost all but the lowest growing will need to be securely staked.
The choice of sunflowers for the garden is extensive, from the rich deep reds of Claret and Earth Walker, which grow to 180cm/6ft or more, and the unusual brown-centred, pale-petalled Italian White to the ultra double yellow Teddy Bear.
Dwarf varieties include Dwarf Yellow Spray and Music Box, while at the other end of the spectrum Mongolian Giant can grow up to 420cm/14ft or more.
Weekend catch-up
MAKE leaf mould by clearing deciduous leaves from paths and lawns, moistening them with water and putting them into black bin liners.
Stuff as many as possible into the bags, tie them at the top and punch a few holes in the base with a garden fork to allow drainage.
The bags should then be stored in the garden. After about 18 months, the leaves will have broken down enough to use as mulch or for digging in as a soil improver. The process can be speeded up by shredding the leaves first.
Gardening TV and Radio
Tomorrow.
8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. Presented by Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.
9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther with Joe Maiden.
2pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. The gardening experts are in Scotland where they are guests of the Aileymill Primary Group, in Greenock. Matthew Wilson gives advice on autumn colour and the gardening weather forecast is at 2.40pm. Peter Gibbs is in the chair. (Repeated from Friday).
Friday.
3pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Matthew Biggs, Bob Flowerdew and Pippa Greenwood help members of the Weald Horticultural Society in Sevenoaks with their gardening problems. Bob Flowerdew is also out and about in Kent visiting the county’s vineyards and looking at the best grape varieties to grow for wine making. The gardening weather forecast is at 3.40pm. (Repeated on Sunday).
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