The sunflower, with the scientific name Helianthus annuus , is one of the most striking and appreciated plants, both for its spectacular flower, which is actually an inflorescence, and for the oil and the seeds that are obtained from it, the sunflower seeds. It is an asteraceous plant that has its origin in Central and North America, but is currently cultivated throughout the world. It is a very fast growing annual plant that can reach up to 3 meters in height in its largest varieties. It is characterized by its heliotropism, or the ability to rotate facing the sun when the plant is young, and it has been cultivated since ancient times, currently believing that the first to domesticate it were the inhabitants of Mexico around 2,600 BC. C.
Currently there is a great variety of sunflowers that differ in size as well as in shape and color. And what are the colors of sunflowers? Although we surely think of yellow, the truth is that its petals can be from yellow to brown, orange and dark shades of red. If you want to know some of the different types of sunflowers , keep reading this article.
Big smile
The Big smile sunflower is one of the most popular of the 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 beautiful. It is usually grown in pots or small spaces in gardens.
Teddy bear
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 they 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.
Sunspot
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 .
Music Box
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.
Russian giant
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 produces 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, which needs little care and where the most important thing is, as in many others, that it receives a lot of sun.
Moonwalker
The Moonwalker type of sunflower is another large sunflower , although it falls far short of the Russian giant sunflower. It usually grows to a meter and a half tall and is characterized by its pale yellow petals , which surround a dark brown center, as you can see in this image.
Velvet queen
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 orange and dark brown in its center. It is a large sunflower that can reach up to 2 meters in height and also produces a very particular aroma.
What care does a sunflower need
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 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 although most of them do so in summer, some species keep their flowers until fall.
