Enjoy Continuous Sunflower Blooms All Season With One Simple Gardening Tip
Growing sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) is a fun and rewarding process, but it can be disappointing when your sunflowers only bloom for a few weeks before they are gone. Whether you are growing sunflowers for the seeds or you just love the look in your garden, succession planting might be the method for you. With this simple tip, you can extend the flowering season to enjoy continuous sunflower blooms all summer long. Plus, it is a great first step to get started with self-sufficient gardening.
There are three types of succession planting that can help you achieve longer-lasting sunflower blooms in your garden. You could plant several sunflower varieties that reach maturity at different times of the growing season. Alternatively, you could plant the same variety at regular intervals so they bloom in succession — as the first blooms start to fade, the next round starts to blossom. Or, you could combine these two methods by planting mixed varieties at regular or irregular intervals. However you choose to do it, the idea is to plant the seeds in a way that each interval produces flowers as the previous interval's blooms begin to die. That way, with careful planning, you can extend the blooming season from a few weeks to all season long.
How to plan succession planting for continuous sunflower blooms
Succession planting can help you make the most of your garden space while rewarding you with a lasting blooming and harvesting season. Before you get started, identify the best spot in your garden to plant your sunflowers. By determining the total available space, you can determine how many varieties or intervals you can plant. Regardless of whether you choose to start your seeds indoors or plant directly in the ground, you need to plan for the correct spacing for each variety. In general, you will want to plant seeds 6 to 12 inches apart in rows that are 2 to 3 feet apart. Refer to the directions for the exact varieties plant to get a better idea of the spacing needed for your garden. In general, larger varieties of sunflowers need more space than smaller varieties.
Once you have identified the amount of planting space, you can decide on the number of plants for each interval and the number of total intervals you'll plant. Now, it's time to figure out the timing. You can select whatever combination of varieties that you want, so long as you plan for the timing accordingly. For different varieties that reach maturity at different times, you can plant them all at the same time or at three to four week intervals for a longer season. If you choose to plant all the same variety, you can plant at one to two week intervals. Finally, decide when to start planting. For the longest season, start the first interval early in the planting season after the last frost. Make sure the final round of sunflowers have enough time to mature before the end of the first frost.