The closest to black you can get in a sunflower.

Colors vary from black to bronze with occasional touches of maroon. Cross pollination is high in sunflowers, in particular. 


Reaches 4 feet tall. Blooms are 5 inches across. 


Plant in late spring or summer in cooler climates and any time of year in zones 9+. These can handle some heat but so appreciate being well irrigated. 


Sunflowers are a great way to attract bees to your garden as they find them irresistible and will pollinate everything else while visiting, yielding you more flowers and vegetables throughout your garden.


Annual that can be grown in any climate from spring to late summer as sprout to flower is only 90 days. These can be planted any time of year in zones 9B+


This is for 15 Non GMO seeds.


I combine shipping on all seed orders, you pay one flat fee for as many seeds as you would like for no additional shipping. Orders over $35 for any combination of items in my shop ship for free! 


All of my seeds are tested and guaranteed. Most of my seeds are fresh off of my own plants. Please see below for detailed planting instructions. The very last photo of the listing is a printable version that you can print from your desktop by simply pressing and holding CTRL and then P. 

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Choose a location that gets full sun. Plant when temperatures are between 60 and 90 degrees. Keep well irrigated in extreme heat.  These look best planted in a row in the back of a garden bed as they get 6-7 feet tall. These are sprout to flower 60-90 days. Dig down a few inches into the soil and refill with organic compost, garden soil or a mixture of both. The farther you dig, the happier and healthier the sunflowers will be. I like to dig down about 6 inches around where I am planting each seed.  Plant seeds ½ to 1 inch deep. Space the seeds 12-18 inches apart.


Water daily until they sprout and then continue to water as needed. These are heavy feeders and like to be fertilized. I use organic fertilizer for organic gardening, look for a fertilizer that is lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium such as 5-10-10 (N-P-K.) It’s not the numbers that matters so much as the ratio of numbers. You want half the amount of nitrogen as you do the other two, particularly phosphorus. Most fertilizers that are primarily for bloom boosting or flowering plants will suffice.  Higher Phosphorus (P) will give you more abundant and larger blooms, too much nitrogen (N) will make them too leafy and less flowery. Plus, sunflowers are adept at finding nitrogen in the soil by spreading their roots up to five feet underground! Follow the instructions on the package. 


Some experts like to use borax as a source of boron which can give you a 20% increase in blooms and bloom size. Prior to blooms opening, when buds are just halfway developed, mix ½ teaspoon of borax and mix until it is fully dissolved in a gallon of water and pour it at the base of the plants being careful not to get it on the foliage. You want to do this in the morning. Repeat one month later if desired. This is also a deterrent for pests.


If your climate is particularly windy or the sunflower heads grow particularly large, you may want to stake them. You can judge as they grow and see if staking is needed. 


Note: Sunflowers have a very high germination rate. It is very unusual for them not to sprout. If they don’t, this is almost always due to squirrels, chipmunks or even raccoons! Squirrels bury acorns for future use and have such powerful noses that they are able to sniff them out later. They are just as easily able to sniff out a tasty sunflower seed. If you have a lot of squirrels in your yard, especially if you have a feeder for them or for birds, you may want to start the seeds in a starter tray and put them in a very bright, preferably southern or western facing window that gets direct sun. After they sprout, plant them in the ground as described above.


A NOTE ON SEED STORAGE:

If your temperatures are not quite right for planting, you can keep the seeds viable by keeping them in the plastic bag that I send them in (which is thick and food grade for specifically this purpose,) place that in a paper bag to block light and put it in your refrigerator until you are ready to plant. This can be done with most all seeds and will keep them viable for 1-5 years depending on the species.  If you have a basement, you can store them there as well. A sealed mason jar in a paper bag is also ideal. The key for seed storage is cool, dark and dry.