10 Interesting Facts About Sunflowers

Sunflowers are great to bring a smile to your face and lift your mood but there are some other pretty interesting facts about sunflowers like these:

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There are over 70 varieties of sunflowers or “helianthus” plants.

Sunflower is the only flower that has the word flower in it’s name.

The sunflower is native to North America but is now grown all over the world with Ukraine being the number one sunflower seed producer in 2018.

Common sunflowers can grow up to 15 feet. The world record in 2014 was 30 feet and 1 inch which was grown in Germany.

The sunflower is one large flower that is made up of smaller flowers (disc florets) which is where the seeds are formed.

While sunflowers are growing they follow the sun from east to west until they begin to bloom. (aka the sun trackers)

Sunflowers spread rapidly and are territorial. They will take over other plants and even other sunflowers for space.

They need 6 – 8 hours of sun but only need to watered about once a week under normal weather conditions.

It can take anywhere from 80 – 100 days before it is time to pick the seeds.

For more fun facts or how to grow sunflowers visit: https://www.almanac.com/plant/sunflowers. You can also visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus for more information.

If you would like to share a fun fact or story about sunflowers, please leave a comment below. Sign up for a weekly email from Ssouthernlifestyle and as always have a blessed day!