Sunflowers

2:28:27 PM EDT

Blooming Sunshine

Over 300 years ago sunflowers (Helianthus) were domesticated in North America by native American tribes. From the Greek words "heli" meaning sun, and "anthos" meaning flower, sunflowers were introduced in Europe by the Spanish explorers returning from this continent. There they remained an Old World curiosity until they reached Russia in 1860 where they again were cultivated as a crop for the high oil content found in their seeds. It wasn't until after the Second World War that the high oil varieties were reintroduced in the United States where they once again were raised as a crop for their seed.s oil and as a snack-food and bird food. Today there are about 50 species and many hybrids of this consummate American plant.

Sunflowers belong to the Aster or Sunflower Family of plants known as composites who can be recognized by their inflorescence (arrangement of flowers). Often mistaken as a single flower, composites consist of numerous tiny disk flowers (those located in the center) surrounded by longer ray flowers (mistakenly called petals) clustered together on the broadened top of the stem. Helianthus species are mostly tall, coarse plants whose flowers have yellow typically overlapping rays. More than 15 helianthus species of the 25 identified in the United States occur in Georgia.

COMMON SUNFLOWER (H. annuus) is an annual that reseeds itself. It is the native sunflower most widely cultivated for its oil rich seeds with plants reaching heights of up to 10 feet. Wild plants are seldom found to be over five f eet tall. It is easily identified by its stout, rough hairy stems eminating from a taproot, mostly alternate heart-shaped two to eight inch long leaves, yellow ray flowers numbering 20 or more, and reddish brown or yellow disk flowers from one to six inches across. Native Americans used ground sunflower seed for flour and oil from the seeds for cooking, mixing paints, and grooming their hair. Teas made from the leaves and flowers were taken for fevers, lung ailments, and insect bites. Early American settlers used fibers from sunflower stalks for making cloth and the leaves were dried and smoked like tobacco. Seeds were also ground and used as a coffee substitute. The yellow ray flowers provided a permanent dye. The common sunflower blooms from July to October and has naturalized throughout the United States in open places.

NARROWLEAF SUNFLOWER (H. angustifolius) is a fibrous-rooted perennial herb two to five feet tall, with opposite lower, alternate upper, linear leaves yellow ray flowers, and purple flattened disk.

Blooming from August to October throughout its range from New York to Indiana and Missouri to south Florida, this species is frequently seen in late summer along roadsides and in fallow fields and pastures throughout its range.

WOODLAND SUNFLOWER (H. divaricatus) has a smooth stem and opposite, virtually sessile (attached directly to the stem) leaves which taper gradually to a long tip and have abruptly rounded bases that do not clasp. The flowers have fewer than 15 one-inch long rays. This sunflower can be found in dry woods and along roadsides.

SMALL-HEADED SUNFLOWER (H. microcephalus) is another smooth stemmed sunflower. Its opposite, lanceolate three to six-inch leaves are rough to the touch on top and resinous below. This perennial herb has half-inch long yellow flowers and yellow disk flowers which radiate on long slender stalks. This rhizomatus plant can reach 7 feet tall along roadsides and woodland edges.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (H. tuberosus) is a tall (up to 10 feet) hairy plant whose upper leaves are alternate and lower ones opposite. Having from 10 to 20 one to one and one-half-inch yellow ray flowers and a one-inch yellow disc, this sunflower's heads radiate in a typically flat-topped corymb. They occur in woodland borders and on waste ground. The name has no connection to the ancient city, but comes from the Italian word "girasole" which means "turn to the sun". Native Americans cultivated this plant for its tuberous, potatoe-like root marketed today as "sun chokes".

A common characteristic of all sunflowers is that they are heliotropic while in the bud stage. This means that as the sun courses from east to west during the day, the buds turn to face the sun. During the night they return to face the east ready to greet the next day's sunrise. Once in full bloom, the flower head remains stable until the seeds mature and the back of the flowerhead turns from green to yellow. Then the flowerhead bows to facilitate the dispersal of seeds. Easily grown on most soils, sunflowers are often seen towering above the corn on the garden.s edge or in fields and meadows above other plants. Over 26 pounds per capita, or eight billion pounds, of sunflower seed is produced annually in the United States, a quarter of a million acres planted in Kansas alone, where it is the state flower. Most sunflower varieties found in seed catalogs are cultivars of H. annuus and come in colors from yellow to red, single flowering to sprays of 15 to 20 flowers, 24 inches to 15 feet tall.

Be on the lookout for these and other fascinating wildlings in your rambles this summer. If you are planning any land disturbing activity you are urged to contact a Plant Rescue Team member for advice in preserving the native plant material that may exist on your property. Should you find that native plants stand in the way of construction activities, please call a member of the Plant Rescue Project, a project to identify, protect, and preserve our native plants, Jennifer Cordier, Chairperson, at 706-745-9317. This project is sponsored by the Preservation Committee of the Community Council of the Georgia Mountains Research and Education Center, Blairsville, Georgia.

Elaine K. Delcuze Plant Rescue Team

Union Sentinel
http://www.unionsentinel.com/news/2007/0628/home/053.html

Tags: sunflower varieties, types

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7:50:57 AM EDT

 The joy of sunflowers                   

 01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 3, 2007 By Virginia A. Smith

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Few flowers provide as much joy — and instant karma — as the homegrown sunflower.

Simple, straight and very yellow, it shoots up quickly, tilting its massive self this way and that, following the sun like some lumbering coquette.

At least, that’s the popular image of the annual officially known as Helianthus annuus, which comes from the Greek words helios for sun and anthos for flower.

But this North American native is far from common anymore.

Imagine petals cultivated in shades of cream, persimmon or apricot, with centers the color of dark chocolate, lime sorbet or cornbread.

“They’re just magical-looking, nothing like them,” says Ron Kushner, of Lafayette Hill, Pa., who likes to plant many-hued foot-highs in the front of his garden border and 15-foot giants in the back.

The colors sound good enough to eat — and plenty of birds and animals love the seeds’ nutty taste. So do humans — especially baseball players and truck drivers.

“We call them spitting seeds,” says Larry Kleingartner, head of the National Sunflower Association, in Bismarck, N.D.

For gardeners, color’s the thing, along with the plant’s romping growth rate and blossom size, 4 inches to a foot or more across.

So continue imagining here. You put those many-splendored blooms atop prickly green stalks that come thin as a toothbrush or thick as a baseball bat. The stalks span heights from about 12 inches to — stand back — a Guinness Book of World Records’ 25 feet. More commonly, the tall ones top out at 12 or 15 feet.

Plant a group and the effect is fantastic. You begin to understand why Rebecca Boylan and so many other gardeners are wild about sunflowers.

Boylan has been growing different varieties for 19 years, since she and her husband moved to a house in Pottstown, Pa., with an acre and a half out back. She favors mixes such as Fantasia and Pastiche, and even created a sunflower tepee in the yard for her son when he was little. (Just plant tall ones in a circle and tie them loosely together at the top when they’re mature.)

“Sunflowers grow like crazy. They’re very easy. You get instant gratification, and they’re such happy plants,” Boylan says, anthropomorphizing just a bit.

But she may be onto something.

Kleingartner has a similar explanation for why we find this sunny classic so irresistible.

“It’s a very humanlike figure,” he says. “You’ve got the big leaves that look like arms, then you’ve got this face, this friendly, smiling, sunny face.

“I think that appeals to people, especially kids,” says Kleingartner, whose organization is made up of 10,000 commercial sunflower-growers in the Upper Midwest and Kansas.

They grow wild sunflowers, which are smaller than the ornamental ones. They also have multiple branches and heads — and are still considered a weed by most farmers.

North American Indians originally cultivated sunflowers to make many products, including cooking oil and a coffee-type drink, home remedies and dyes. The Teton Dakota liked to say that when the sunflowers were tall and blooming, the buffalo would be fat and the meat good.

Sunflowers made their way first to Europe and then to the former Soviet Union, which did most of the research that created today’s big-headed, oil-rich varieties. In the 1960s, the gray-and-white-striped seed emerged as a popular snack in the United States.

These days, 60 million acres of sunflowers are grown in 60 countries for their flowers, heart-healthy seeds, and oil. While Europeans commonly cook with sunflower oil, it’s just beginning to be used in this country for frying commercial snack foods.

Tom Heaton is a seed man in the purest sense. For 31 years, this California plant geneticist has bred beautiful sunflowers for growing in home gardens and for cutting. He now sells wholesale to 300 seed companies around the world.

More and more, Heaton says, the sunflowers he develops are smaller, more colorful, quicker to flower, and lacking pollen.

“With urbanization, people are getting smaller and smaller areas to plant,” he says, “so the big, tall sunflowers are maybe not as practical or desirable. People just don’t have as much space.”

Many of his offerings are only 3 to 5 feet tall, with 3-  to 6-inch blooms. And they come not just in single colors, but in combinations of red-lemon or pink-red-white. Some look more like dahlias than traditional sunflowers.

And most are pollenless. They look the same and still provide nectar for bees and butterflies, but their stems are sturdier and they don’t blanket the dining room table — or your nose and throat — with yellow dust.

All well and good. Still, most of us love sunflowers not for their evolutionary stage, but for being what some have called “a simple miracle.”

Last year, Boylan planted the 3-foot Bashful, the 10-foot Kong, a Heaton-inspired giant, and every size in between in her 4-foot-square herb garden just beyond the kitchen.

“When they grew and flowered, the finches attacked them like crazy,” she says, recalling how she would sit in the kitchen daydreaming or reading the paper and “watching the finch show.”

“It was just beautiful.”

As soon as the words “Sunflowers are not a serious flower” come out of Ron Kushner’s mouth, he knows he’s got some explaining to do, ’cause we love sunflowers.

He doesn’t mean they’re not real flowers, or that we’re corny if we like them, because he adores them, too. “I mean sunflowers are a lark. They’re fun,” Kushner says.

Much better.

But he’s right about one thing: They’re probably more suited to a casual garden than a formal one — though we think the sunflower’s charm is universal.

So, casually speaking, Kushner, a master gardener, recommends planting sunflowers around a deck or terrace, a vegetable or herb bed.

“That would look wonderful,” he says, “although sunflowers look marvelous wherever they are.”

Two of his favorites are the 3-foot Music Box, which has burgundy and gold petals, and the 6-foot Moulin Rouge, which has deep red petals. Both have chocolate centers.

Jenny Carleo, agricultural agent with Rutgers University’s cooperative extension in Cape May County, N.J., has another suggestion from her work last year with local farmers. They were looking for the best sunflower to grow for the cut-flower market.

“We loved ‘Sunny,’ ” Carleo says, describing its 5-inch flower with golden yellow petals and large brown center. It’s a 6-footer with high resistance to disease and no pollen.

“Hands-down winner,” she says.

Whatever you plant, do it in full sun, if possible, by the third week in May. But it’s not too late to do it now. Seeds sprout in about 11 days.

And while everyone has a method, the general rule is: Dig a hole 2 1/2 times as deep as the seed diameter. (Sunflowers have pretty big seeds, another neat feature that makes them an easy plant for children or elderly gardeners.)

Space bigger varieties 18 inches apart, smaller types closer. And be weed-whacky for the first few weeks.

Carleo suggests sowing every two weeks if you want continuous blooms and, if you don’t do rows, planting odd numbers of seeds in clusters.

Then enjoy. After all, sunflowers aren’t serious flowers.

http://www.projo.com/garden/content/lh_sunflowers_06-03-07_ET5AIB2.2f0c445.html

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1:07:14 AM EDT

      Climate changes said harm sunflowers

May 19, 1:29 AM ET

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Imagine the Sunflower State without its sunflowers. That's one of the dire predictions contained in a new report on global warming released by the National Wildlife Federation, which says the Kansas state flower could move north to other states in a few decades.

Increasingly warm temperatures also could mean the end of the state tree, the eastern cottonwood, according to "The Gardener's Guide to Global Warming."

"Everything being equal, these plants won't thrive and will shift north," said Patty Glick, the report's author and senior global warming specialist for the National Wildlife Federation.

While conditions could change, Glick and other say projected increasing temperatures also could wipe out cool-weather grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, and many fescues that cover lawns in the region.

Some experts think global warming will cause temperatures in Kansas to rise an average of 5 to 12 degrees in the next several decades.

The projection that the sunflower could fade from Kansas' landscape surprised some experts and scientists.

"This is a plant that has survived for eons," said Dennis Patton, a horticulturist with the Johnson County Kansas State University Research and Extension office. "It is hard to believe in this short period of time that the plant would be non-existent here. Same with the cottonwood.

"I guess what I come back to, it is a good wake-up call."

John Blair, a Kansas State University professor and research scientist at the Konza Prairie research station north of Manhattan, has been conducting experiments for nine years on the effect of altered rain patterns on plants.

Blair said even if total rainfall doesn't change, computer models show the rain will come less often and will fall in strong downpours when it does come.

He is finding that plants with root systems able to reach water deeper in the earth have a better chance of survival. For plants in the wild, that means many perennials have a better chance than annuals such as the sunflower because of their more developed root systems.

What would the lack of a sunflower mean for Kansas, which has Mount Sunflower and hundreds of businesses, clubs and associations with sunflower in their titles?

"Maybe in 100 years the Texas bluebonnet will be the Kansas state flower," Patton said.

The Wildlife Federation report said the Missouri state tree and flower — the flowering dogwood and the white hawthorn blossom — are not endangered.      

                                

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070519/ap_on_sc/no_sunflowers_2

 

 

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2:27:29 PM EDT

     Roasted Salted Sunflower Seeds

Description: Another Fall favorite are roasted sunflower seeds. In the past year or so, they have become the rage. You find them everywhere, ball games, parties, outdoor activities or just an evening snacks. Such a great taste. It's hard to believe how something this good can also be good for you. 

Ingredients:

1 cup	Sunflower Seeds
2 quarts	Water
l /2cup	Salt

Note: For salt free sunflower seeds, rinse seeds and go straight to step # 7.

Preparation Directions:

1. Add water and salt in a  pot or saucepan.
2. Rinse sunflower seeds and remove any plant and flowerhead matter.
3. Add sunflower seeds.
4. Bring water to a boil, then turn down to simmer.
5. Simmer 1 to 1/1/2 hours.
6. Drain on a paper towel until dry. Do not rinse.
7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
8. Spread seeds on a cookie sheetand bake for 25-30 minutes.
9. Stir frequently.
10. Remove from oven when they turn slightly brown.                                      

http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook/sunflower.htm

Tags: Roasted Sunflower Seeds

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9:02:30 AM EDT

      How To Grow Sunflowers    

Charles T. Behnke

Sunflower is the common seed name for the genus Helianthus. The sunflower is native to North America, and was used by early North American Indians for food and pressed to make hair oil. Meal from processed seed has been used for livestock feed. Today, whole seeds are used for oil, bird seed and snacks. The seeds are a rich source of calcium plus 11 other minerals. The 50 percent fat composition is mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid.

Uses

As a garden plant, the sunflower is valuable for forming a background screen. A rapid grower, it reaches a height of 8 to 12 feet in rich soil.

This rapid growth could cause competition with other garden plants, especially by shading. Sunflowers can be planted between groups of shrubs, particularly where these form a background. For smaller gardens, the multi-branched species are more suitable. Dwarf forms of 24 inches in height make a spectacular bed by themselves.

When growing sunflowers for bird food or human consumption, select the confectionery types over the oil types.

Culture

Sunflowers do best when grown on soils with adequate water-holding capacity, internal drainage and proper fertility. They will tolerate a wide range of soil types; however, one that is too high in nitrogen encourages excessive plant growth that will check maturity of the flower heads. Adequate levels of phosphorus and potassium are recommended, and, as with any garden activity, frequent soil tests are recommended to get good results. The plant's roots go deep and spread extensively, so the sunflower can withstand some drought and nearby cultivation. Sunflowers should not be water stressed during the critical period; about 20 days before and after flowering.

Plant seed into moistened soil one to two inches deep, but no deeper than three inches. Space seed 12 inches apart in rows spaced 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart. Plants grown for large heads should be spaced farther apart or scattered around the garden.

In Ohio, planting can take place from early to mid-May. Seed bed soil temperature must be between 42 and 50 degrees F with temperatures above 50 degrees F preferable for germination to occur rapidly. Depending on variety and environmental factors, germination will occur in 7 to 12 days. Plants will mature in 80 to 90 days.

For the home situation, seed can be started in four-inch peat pots and transplanted outdoors. Transplants may grow taller and flower sooner than seed started plants. They should start to flower in ten weeks.

Weeds can be a problem for sunflowers. Weed control is practiced for the first four to five weeks after seed emergence. For the home garden, hand weeding and mulching are the best methods.

Diseases and Pests

A common disease of sunflowers is Sclerotina or white mold, which causes stalk and head rots. Disease spores can live for many years in the soil. Other common diseases are downy mildew, rust and verticillium wilt. Sanitation and crop rotation should be considered for control in the home garden.

The sunflower head moth is the major insect pest. The moth attacks at flowering time with the larvae feeding on floral parts and tunneling through developing seed. Aphids and whiteflies also can be a problem.

Birds can be troublesome near harvest time. Seeds are exposed and the large flower head serves as a feeding perch. To deter birds, use frightening devices and human activity in the immediate area before damage is expected. Flower heads can be covered with plastic netting or cheesecloth.

Harvesting

Harvest begins in mid-September and can run into October. A check of the flower head will indicate maturity; florets in the center of the flower disk are shriveled, heads are downturned, and a lemon yellow color is on the backside. Pull a few seeds and split them with a knife to check if seed meat has filled. Poorly filled seeds may be due to a lack of pollinating insects.

To harvest, cut the seed head with about a foot of stem attached and hang in a warm, dry, well-ventilated, rodent and insect-free place. A paper bag with holes or cheesecloth can be placed over the heads to catch falling seeds as they drop during drying. Seed heads can be allowed to ripen on the plant, but cheesecloth or nylon netting will be needed for bird protection. Once the seed is dried, it can be rubbed easily from seed heads. Humidity levels must be kept low to prevent spoilage.

Roasting Seeds

Raw mature seeds may easily be prepared at home by covering unshelled seeds with salted water (2 qts. of water to 1/4 to 1/2 cups salt). Bring to a boil and simmer two hours or soak in a salt solution overnight. Drain and dry on absorbent paper.

Put sunflower seeds in a shallow pan in a 300 degree F oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Take out of oven and add one teaspoon of melted butter or margarine to one cup of seeds. Stir to coat. Put on an absorbent towel. Salt to taste.

Sunflower Species

Common Sunflower (H. annuus) - Includes the cultivars H. bismarkianus's, single yellow flower, 6 to 8 feet tall; H. citrinus, primrose yellow flowers, 6 to 8 feet tall; H. giganteus, Russian Giant, large, single yellow flower grown mainly for seeds, 10 to 12 feet tall.

Silverleaf Sunflower (H. argophyllus) - Stems and leaves covered with silky gray down, especially on younger growth. Flowers golden with purplish brown center, plants 5 to 6 feet tall. Silvery leaves used in fresh and dried flower arrangements.

Cucumberleaf Sunflower (H. debilis) -Four-foot plants with multiple branches. Excellent for cutting. Three-inch flowers have a purple disk and yellow rays.

Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet Horticulture and Crop Science 2021 Coffey Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43210-1086

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1228.html

          

 

Tags: how to grow sunflowers, planting sunflowers, harvesting sunflowers

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11:01:34 AM EDT Make way for the fun flowers

For gardeners, the color's the thing. (File/The Spokesman-Review )

Virginia A. Smith
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 24, 2007

Few flowers provide as much joy — and instant karma — as the homegrown sunflower.

Simple, straight and very yellow, it shoots up quickly, tilting its massive self this way and that, following the sun like some lumbering coquette.

At least, that's the popular image of the annual officially known as Helianthus annuus, which comes from the Greek words helios for sun and anthos for flower.

But this North American native is far from common anymore.

Imagine petals cultivated in shades of cream, persimmon or apricot, with centers the color of dark chocolate, lime sorbet or cornbread.

"They're just magical-looking, nothing like them," says Ron Kushner of Lafayette Hill, Pa., who likes to plant many-hued foot-highs in the front of his garden border and 15-foot giants in the back.

The colors sound good enough to eat — and plenty of birds and animals love the seeds' nutty taste. So do humans, especially baseball players and truck drivers.

"We call them spitting seeds," says Larry Kleingartner, head of the National Sunflower Association in Bismarck, N.D.

For gardeners, color's the thing, along with the plant's romping growth rate and blossom size, 4 inches to a foot or more across.

So continue imagining here. You put those many-splendored blooms atop prickly green stalks that come thin as a toothbrush or thick as a baseball bat. The stalks span heights from about 12 inches to — stand back — a "Guinness Book of World Records" 25 feet. More commonly,

the tall ones top out at 12 or 15 feet.    

Plant a group and the effect is fantastic. You begin to understand why Rebecca Boylan and so many other gardeners are wild about sunflowers.

Boylan's been growing different varieties for 19 years, since she and her husband moved to a house in Pottstown, Pa., with an acre and a half out back. She favors mixes like 'Fantasia' and 'Pastiche,' and even created a sunflower tepee in the yard for her son when he was little.

"Sunflowers grow like crazy. They're very easy. You get instant gratification, and they're such happy plants," Boylan says, anthropomorphizing just a bit.

          But she may be onto something.

Kleingartner has a similar explanation for why we find this sunny classic so irresistible.

"It's a very humanlike figure," he says. "You've got the big leaves that look like arms, then you've got this face, this friendly, smiling, sunny face.

"I think that appeals to people, especially kids," says Kleingartner, whose organization comprises 10,000 commercial sunflower-growers in the Upper Midwest and Kansas.

They grow wild sunflowers, which are smaller than the ornamental ones. They also have multiple branches and heads — and are still considered a weed by most farmers.

North American Indians originally cultivated sunflowers to make everything from cooking oil and a coffee-type drink to home remedies and dyes. The Teton Dakota liked to say that when the sunflowers were tall and blooming, the buffalo

would be fat and the meat good.            

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=185755

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2:39:12 PM EDT

N.D. mulling bill to control blackbirds

3/22/2007, 1:44 a.m. EDT  By BLAKE NICHOLSON The Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Demand for healthier sunflower oil for potato chip frying is spurring a debate about whether millions of blackbirds should die to make it easier to raise the crop. Demand is rising for NuSun, a sunflower variety that produces oil with less saturated fat and no trans fat, said John Sandbakken, international marketing director for the National Sunflower Association. Saturated and trans fats help clog arteries and increase the risk of heart disease. One reason for NuSun's increased popularity is the decision by the Frito-Lay snack food company to use NuSun oil to cook its major brands of potato chips, Sandbakken said. The company announced the switch in May 2006, and sunflower plantings need to rise by 600,000 acres next year to meet the new demand, he said. But a roadblock to increased sunflower production is blackbirds, which feast on the oilseed crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the birds cause about $10 million in damage each year to sunflowers in North Dakota, which produces about half of the nation's sunflower output. Last year's North Dakota sunflower crop was valued at $158 million. The North Dakota Legislature is considering a bill to spend $79,500 to help in a federal effort to control blackbirds. One of the methods would involve baiting and killing the birds. "We're looking for any and all possible silver bullets out there to deal with this problem," Sandbakken said. State Sen. Terry Wanzek, a Jamestown Republican, saidhe once grew sunflowers, but hasn't done so in a decade because blackbirds can eat away a farmer's profit. "We've surrendered," he said. "The birds won." The money would pay for part-time workers, hired by the North Dakota Agriculture Department, who would help the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services agency with blackbird control.    The project would include common methods, including noise cannons that scare the blackbirds, as well as a new one — poisoning blackbirds with bait along gravel roads. The birds land on gravel roads to get the grit their gizzards need to help digest food. Supporters of using poisoned bait say other control methods only move blackbirds from one field to another, while opponents say the poison will kill more than just blackbirds.    Research in Louisiana and Texas of a similar blackbird baiting method in rice fields found that mourning doves and meadowlarks were most affected of all non-targeted birds. Both birds are prevalent in North Dakota, and the western meadowlark is the state bird. "The chemical will interact with mourning doves and meadowlarks in Texas identically to a meadowlark and mourning dove in North Dakota," said Kevin Johnson, an environmental contaminant specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency, which has opposed blackbird baiting programs in the past, does not take positions on state legislation, spokesman Ken Torkelson said. The National Audubon Society is opposing the bill, said state director Genevieve Thompson. "It just seems like a more integrated approach that does use nonlethal methods does make more sense," she said. George Linz, a research wildlife biologist at USDA's National Wildlife Research Center in Bismarck, said blackbird control involves methods which include noise cannons; removing cattails, which provide habitat for blackbirds; and seeding small "decoy" sunflower plots to draw birds away from larger fields.  However, the tactics often cannot handle the onslaught of about 70 million blackbirds that come through the Northern Plains each year, Linz said. Poisoning migratory birds is illegal, but Fish and Wildlife allows the killing of blackbirds without an agency permit if the birds are damaging or are about to damage crops, Johnson said. The blackbird baiting program would include monitoring of other bird species. Linz said the bait would be put in trays, using woven wire to screen out pheasants, doves and other birds.

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1:00:26 PM EST

              Sun Flowers from Wikipedia        

                                               the free encyclopedia

The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae, with a large flower head (inflorescence). The stem of the flower can grow up to 3 metres tall, with the flower head reaching 30 cm in diameter. The term "sunflower" is also used to refer to all plants of the genus Helianthus, many of which are perennial plants.

Description

What is usually called the flower is actually a head (formally composite flower) of numerous flowers (florets) crowded together. The outer flowers are the ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange, or other colors, and are sterile. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets.

The florets within this cluster are arranged spirally. Typically each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in 1 direction and 55 in the other; on a very large sunflower you may see 89 in one direction and 144 in the other.

The disc florets mature into what are traditionally called "sunflower seeds", but are actually the fruit (an achene) of the plant. The true seeds are encased in an inedible husk.

Heliotropism

Sunflowers in the bud stage exhibit heliotropism. At sunrise, the faces of most sunflowers are turned towards the east. Over the course of the day, they move to track the sun from east to west, while at night they return to an eastward orientation. This motion is performed by motor cells in the pulvinus, a flexible segment of the stem just below the bud. As the bud stage ends, the stem stiffens and the blooming stage is reached.

Sunflowers in the blooming stage are not heliotropic anymore. The stem has frozen, typically in an eastward orientation. The stem and leaves lose their green color.

The wild sunflower typically does not turn toward the sun; its flowering heads may face many directions when mature. However, the leaves typically exhibit some heliotropism.

Cultivation and uses

Sunflowers are native to the Americas, and were domesticated around 1000 B.C. The Incas used the sunflower as an image of their sun god. Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Europe early in the 16th century.

To grow well, sunflowers need full sun. They grow best in fertile, moist, well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm (1.5') apart and 2.5 cm (1") deep.

Sunflower "whole seed" (fruit) is sold as snacks and can be processed into a peanut butter alternative, Sunbutter, especially in China, the United States, the Middle East and Europe. In Russia it is probably the most wide spread snack.[citation needed] It is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads.

Sunflower oil, extracted from the seeds, is used for cooking (but is less cardiohealthy than olive oil), as a carrier oil and to produce biodiesel, for which it is less expensive than the olive product.

The cake remaining after the seeds have been processed for oil is used as a livestock feed. Some recently developed cultivars have drooping heads. These cultivars are less attractive to gardeners growing the flowers as ornamental plants, but appeal to farmers, because they reduce bird damage and losses from some plant diseases. There are also new breeds of sunflowers which are transgenic, so that they are resistant to some diseases.[citation needed] Sunflowers also produce latex and are the subject of experiments to improve their suitability as an alternative crop for producing hypoallergenic rubber. Additionally, the stem of a dead sunflower can dry out open wounds.[citation needed]

For farmers not intending to grow it, the sunflower is considered a noxious weed. The wild variety will grow unwanted in corn and soybean fields which can have a negative impact on yields.

Diseases

Main article: List of sunflower diseases

Greek myth

In Greek mythology, a girl named Clytie fell in love with the sun god Apollo, and would do nothing but watch his chariot move across the sky. After nine days, she was transformed into a sunflower. However, the word "sunflower" and its cognates existed long before Helianthus annuus was brought to Europe, and it is thought that the myth (which is mentioned in Ovid's poem Metamorphoses) actually refers to heliotrope or marigold.

Trivia

• The sunflower is the state flower of the U.S. state of Kansas, and one of the city flowers of Kitakyushu, Japan.
• The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosa) is related to the sunflower. The Mexican sunflower is Tithonia rotundifolia. False sunflower refers to plants of the genus Heliopsis.
• Scientific literature reports, from 1567, that a 12 m (40'), traditional, single-head, sunflower plant was grown in Padua. The same seed lot grew almost 8 m (24') at other times and places (e.g. Madrid). Much more recent feats (past score years) of over 8 m (25') have been achieved in both Netherlands and Canada (Ontario).
• The sunflower is often used as a symbol of green ideology, much as the red rose is a symbol of socialism or social democracy

National Sunflower Association

A farmer running his tractor and car with sunflower oil

William Blake's poem, "Ah! The sunflower."

Allen Ginsberg's poem, "Sunflower Sutra."

Wikipedia                        

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11:49:28 AM EST

                  Red Sunflowers    

                                        Sunflower - Prado Red

F1) Prado Red is one of the first sunflowers to bloom, making it an ideal choice for home gardens and for cut flower production. A multi-branched variety, Prado Red produces 15-20 beautiful deep red flowers per plant. It grows 5 1/2-6 feet tall, and each 14-21 inch branch is graced with a 5-6 inch flower. Slightly more sensitive to cold temperatures than other varieties, so wait until all danger of frost is past to plant.

   I found these at the

Territorial Seed Company

They have another variety which is almost totally red as well.

Sunflower - Double Dandy              

and yet another that is red with a very small yellow band just out from the seed pod.

Sunflower - Red Sun       

There is yet another one called:     

     Sunflower - Floristan               

 

              

Written by patoco2