Why Sunflowers Are The Perfect Plant For Beginner Gardeners And How To Get Started

Imagine walking out to our balcony, deck, or patio and being greeted with a lovely display of gorgeous sunflowers that you've grown yourself. These are one of the most popular flowers across the whole country, and if you're new to gardening, sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are the perfect plant to try your hand at this rewarding hobby. To make this even easier, you could consider growing these eye-catching blooms in pots, which you can easily position in any sunny outdoor space you might have. Even a bright sunny windowsill can accommodate a beautiful container of pretty sunflowers. You might even find that you'll be able to attract more birds to your apartment balcony by growing these stunning blooms.

Why are sunflowers the perfect plant for beginner gardeners? They're really easy to grow, and all you need is some seeds, a suitable container with drainage holes, and some good-quality potting mix. Most people think of sunflowers as tall, stately plants that can dominate any garden bed they're grown in. However, there are also dwarf varieties that are perfectly suited to growing in pots. Proven Winners has bred a lovely cultivar known as 'Suncredible,' which only reaches a height of 2 to 3 feet. This is a multi-branched form that will keep blooming right through summer, and a fantastic one to get started with. Another good variety to try is 'Suntastic' from All American Selections. This only gets to a maximum height of 20 inches and is another multi-stemmed plant that can easily produce up to 20 flowers.

To grow your own potted sunflowers, choose a pot that's at least 12 inches in diameter with plenty of drainage holes. Fill this with a good-quality potting mix from your local garden center. Moisten the mix before planting the seeds. Check the directions on the seed packet for how far to space the plants, as this will help you work out how many seeds you should sow in each pot. For the 'Suncredible' hybrid, the directions say to space them 18 to 24 inches apart, so if you have a 12 inch pot, you'll only want to plant one seed in the center. However, it's always a good idea to sow two seeds, in case one doesn't germinate. Make a hole in the center of the pot that's around 1 to 2 inches deep, drop in the seeds, and fill in the hole.

Put your pot in a nice sunny spot, and keep the soil moist. You'll find that most seeds will germinate in around seven to 10 days. Continue to water your plant when the top inch of soil is dry but make sure excess water can drain away. Give your plant plenty of sunshine and you should start to see blooms in around 50 or so days. To keep your plants flourishing, feed them with a liquid fertilizer every two weeks once they have at least four leaves. When the petals fade, you'll want to know how to harvest seeds from your sunflower plant, so you can save them for next year.