Tallest sunflower

[Dougeye]

I measured this one at 13'2" (the photo angle doesn't show that very well), and it's 2 1/2" at the ground. Towering over the corn and the other sunflowers, it never ceases to amaze me that something can grow that big from a tiny seed in less than four months.

 

[Jstpssng]

Wow! Are you sure that isn't a magic beanstalk?

Sunflowers are fun to grow, I just never seem to get my seeds into the ground. What do you do with them afterward? Do you sell them, put them out for the birds in winter, or something else?

 

[Dougeye]

I planted the seeds directly in the first half of May, after that it's just a matter of keeping them watered and watching them grow. They are right at the edge of the vegetable patch, so they won't interfere with end-of-season work on the rest of the patch, things like tilling, spreading manure, sowing cover crops etc. They will stay where they are through the winter, and the birds will have them picked clean by the new year. My only concern is the possibility of attracting rats, so the barn cats had better be on the job.

I grow the big sunflowers strictly for the joy they bring to people who visit, and to me as well...

 

[Thomas]

Some will pay extra dollars for seeds from that sunflower like they do for giant pumpkin seed.

 

[oosik]

We have tall sunflowers around these parts. Certainly not 13' 2" but maybe a little less than half that.

 

[bunyip]

We only manage about 6', any hints?