Good Morning from the Sun

Beautiful morning here at the farm. 

The last few rows of sunflowers I planted in August have started to bloom. They missed last week's shoot and probably will be gone in 2 weeks for the next. They are beautiful none the less. Because I didn't have much time for the crop to grow, I ended up planting a bunch of Pro-Cuts which bloom in 50 to 60 days. 

They aren't my favorite varieties to grow - these are the kind you buy at the supermarket and they last forever in a vase. 

I tend to like the multi-branching blooms that get rather dramatic in their growth, bending and falling all over, like a symphony. 

I bought the seeds from both Johnny's and Sunflower Selections. I am looking forward to the blooms of this new red Pro-cut variety developed by the guy who owns Sunflower Selections. Cool job huh? Spending your life developing sunflower blooms.  

I admit, I was cheap and used old seeds and had a lot of crop failure because of poor germination of old seeds. Hence the profusion of short season pro-cuts. I learned my lesson and composted all the old seeds. Next year, I'll do more of an assortment and have more branching varieties. I like mixing up the rows and having all the different shapes and heights growing amongst each other. 

This one is a who knows what but it is pretty. 

These red/black/maroon sunflowers are called Moulin Rouge. They don't ship well and don't last long in a vase. You probably won't ever see them in the market. To get them to last in a vase, I pick them when the disc is flat. They keep developing in the vase. That top bloom in the plant below is too far gone to pick. FYI - the top bloom of multi-branching sunflowers is always the largest. If you pick it - it will have a short stem though - the bottom blooms will grow and prosper better sending out longer stems - as you can see in the photo below.

This one is called Autumn Beauty and it is The Farmer's favorite one to grow. You need a long season and good fresh seeds so I don't have many this year.

Have a sunny day everyone!