This is the first year I’ve grown sunflowers, Helianthus annus,  from seed. I actually started four batches of various colors, heights, and varieties in the last few months at Coppertop, and all are thriving in our early September sunshine.

Here’s patch #1 of a few sunflower varieties I started from seed as it appeared a month ago just inside the veggie garden fence:

And  now it’s filled with color!

Some of the tallest blooms reach over six feet high. The large reddish orange blooms shout AUTUMN.

It’s been almost four months since I transplanted these young sunflower seedlings into patch #2 near the raspberry hedge:

They are a dwarf variety, yet still reach over four feet tall now.

These are the only sunflowers I haven’t staked for support, but I should probably at least run a horizontal line of twine in front of them and attach them to the fence; if not, wind and rain could cause some sad destruction.

Sunflower patch #3 runs along the outside of the veggie garden fence. They are a cheerful yellow variety,  peeking over the fence while I’m weeding, watering, and harvesting:

I think these will get much larger during September. The bees are already loving them.

I planted patch #4 in a large pot on the brick patio by our waterfall, so it’s not really a patch at all. This pot requires watering daily as it bakes on the sunny brick. Blooms will open soon.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m overly hesitant to thin seedlings and tend to keep too many, which holds true for this pot of sunflowers. These are already over five feet tall, and I’ve supported them by tying circles of twine around their stems. Crowding may reduce their overall size, but we’ll enjoy the many blooms.