Types of sunflowers

The Big smile sunflower is one of the most popular of the considered dwarf sunflowers . It is a sunflower with very intense yellow petals, with the characteristic brown center. It is a small sunflower that tends not to exceed 30 cm in height, highly appreciated for its sweet aroma and its great decorative value, since its inflorescences are very showy and pretty. It is usually grown in pots or small spaces in gardens.

The sunflower Teddy bear , or teddy bear in Spanish, is a variety of dwarf sunflower with a very striking appearance. Its inflorescences are very different from the sunflower that we all think of when we mention the plant, and it is that these have a large number of elongated petals of different sizes that give it a fluffy and soft texture, without the typical large brown center, which in this case it is small and of a greenish yellow tone.

The Sunspot variety of sunflower can be found in very different sizes, from half a meter to two meters, although all of them stand out for having a remarkably large inflorescence, which produces a large number of seeds .

The Music box sunflower is a type of ornamental sunflower that is grown for the great decorative value of its inflorescences. This plant has ramifications and its petals show a gradient with different shades of red, orange and yellow of great intensity, which are impossible to miss.

The Russian giant sunflower is very representative of the image that comes to mind when most of us think of sunflowers. It is a large plant that can reach 3 meters in height and is the product of Russian research in search of a sunflower that would produce a large amount of oil. Its center is brown and is surrounded by large yellow petals, with a very bright color. It is a very strong and resistant plant that requires little care and where the most important thing is, as in many others, that it receives a lot of sun.

The Moonwalker type of sunflower is another large sunflower , although it falls far short of the Russian giant sunflower. It usually grows up to five feet tall and is characterized by its pale yellow petals , surrounding a dark brown center, as you can see in this image.

The Velvet Queen sunflower is one of the most striking types of sunflower that exist, since the petals of its inflorescence take on a showy burgundy color, which gives way to the orange and dark brown of its center. It is a large sunflower that can reach up to 2 meters in height and also produces a very particular aroma.

These are the basic care of sunflowers :

• As the name of the plant suggests, the most important thing with these fast-growing asteraceae is to give them as much sun exposure as possible. Always place your sunflower, both in pot and outdoors, at a point where it receives as many hours of light per day as you can, with a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight .
• When it comes to watering, they are very undemanding plants. So much so that it is only necessary to water them during their flowering. Unless the weather is extraordinarily dry, water your sunflower in the two weeks before and after flower production.
• They also need a soil with a very good drainage to avoid excess humidity that damages them. Give them a sandy soil, light and rich in organic matter, especially in phosphorus and potassium, so that it can find the necessary nutrients for its rapid growth without difficulty.
• Many ornamental sunflowers bloom in just 70 days after being planted, and while most of them do so in summer, some species keep their flowers until fall.