# The Life Cycle of a Sunflower Plant
Sunflowers come in many sizes, from towering giants with a fringe of petals around a plate-sized seed head to delicate shrub-like plants with an abundance of daisy sized flowers. Modern horticultural techniques have produced a variety of colors, as well.
-
Seeds
-
Purchase sunflower seeds in seed packets intended to plant. Seeds sold as snacks may not be viable.
Planting
-
Sow these annuals outdoors, after the danger of frost is past. Start them indoors and transplant the seedlings to the garden once frost danger is past.
Growth
-
Larger, single-flower varieties will make visible gains in height daily. Multiple-flowering varieties are less conspicuous, but still grow steadily with suitable conditions.
Flowers
-
Sunflowers are sun followers. As the flowers develop they turn throughout the day, following the track of the sun across the sky. The giant varieties display this trait most noticeably.
Harvest
-
Sunflower seeds are as popular with birds as with people. Harvest sunflower seeds for eating when they appear plump and begin to loosen in the seed head. Many growers wrap the seed head in a light cloth, such as cheesecloth, once the seeds begin to form in order to protect them. Once they have gone to seed, the plants will begin to die.
-
- The Life Cycle of the Cotton Plant
- The Life Cycle of a Peanut Plant
- Sunflower Seeds & Bugs
- Sunflower Seed Problems
- The Life Cycle of a Sunflower Seed
- Can You Plant Roasted Sunflower Seeds?
- The History of Sunflower Seeds
- The Life Cycle of an Ephemeral Plant
- Life Cycle of the Seed Corn Maggot
- The Shelf Life of Herb Seeds
- How to Plant Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
- How to Grow the Sunflower Seed Plant
