A Case for Branching Sunflowers
Partial view of our 1/2-acre flower farm with branching sunflowers to the left.
January 27, 2021
Many flower farmers grow sunflowers as a staple crop that keeps on giving summer thru fall. Lots of people love them but I personally am not crazy about sunflowers in general. Their look is too informal for wedding work (unless sunflowers are specifically requested, which is rare in my experience), not to mention the amount of work that goes into growing single stem sunflowers.
Single stem varieties of sunflowers (βProCutβ being the farmerβs series of choice) require constant weekly succession plantings and an unforgiving harvesting schedule to get those cuts out and sold before the petals drop, rendering the entire plant useless. I admit to having a favorite βProCutβ variety β ProCut βWhite Lite.β The colors of the petals are a ivory-lemony shade with a big buttery center and I totally love them but found myself only using a handful while the rest wilted to waste in the field because I didnβt need them when they ripened.
βProCut White Lite,β my favorite single stem sunflower (that I still wonβt grow)
Enter: Branching Sunflowers.
Branching sunflowers are where itβs at for my flower farm. Iβve read many farming books & blogs over the years, discouraging me from growing the branching varieties. In the flower farming world, the single stem βProCutβ varieties are toted as the only way to go, but I entirely beg to differ.
Branching sunflowers last weeks longer than single cut sunflowers because they keep sprouting new stems, even if they go uncut for a week. They are a true βcut & come againβ cut flower. Branching sunflowers get so tall and literally look like trees with huge branches of sunflowers growing out of their sides (hence the name). I find that branching sunflowers produce stems that are shorter and skinnier, which makes them easier to work with in vase arrangements. I also appreciate the sometimes tiny palm-sized blooms that sprout, and I super appreciate the multiple-head blooms that you will never find with single stem varieties. The multiple-bloom heads are just extravagant!
Branching sunflowers take up more space than single stem varieties, but I find I donβt have to succession them as aggressively (I initially plant in May, then replant in July and August). They do well about 12β-18β apart. If you are a home gardener, you can effectively create a privacy hedge from July-October using branching sunflowers!
View of the branching sunflowers hovering behind the dahlia patch.
The biggest takeaway from my embrace of branching sunflowers (and shunning of single stem sunflowers), is that not everything has to be done βby the book.β I am a flower farmer growing cut flowers for a living, on my own terms. I donβt grow a ton of sunflowers because I donβt particularly love them. The ones I do grow, I grow because theyβre easiest for me to deal with in terms of planting and harvesting.
Do whatβs best for you!
peace, love + plant magic.
Fran Parrish
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How to Organically Fertilize Your Flower Farm
On Following My Dreams (or Why I Quit My Desk Job to Start a Farm Business)
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5 Steps to Building Healthy Soil: Increasing the Biodiversity of Your Soil Food Web β Part 2ο»Ώ
