Project Sunflower

This Spring I tried something new....I planted Sunflowers. Lots of Sunflowers. And not the kind that you buy in little tiny seed packets.

 I planted the Sunflower seeds that come in a great big giant bag that are intended to be fed to birds.

And look, they were specially formulated for Alaskan birds! How about that!?????!!!!??? Hmmm.

Anyways, I think I had dreams of a virtual field of Sunflowers, because I broadcasted half the bag out - all over our property.

Even on Mr. Adams' half of the property! The ducks LOVED the rare treat.

They gobbled up lots of them. Well, they are Alaskan birds, so I guess that makes sense, right?

I was not spuer impressed with the results of this experiment. The germination rate was pretty poor. Ironically, the best germination occurred where the ducks were able to get to the seeds. Weird! Anyways, we did have Sunflowers lining the driveway,

And alongside the house.

The plants were on the small side with one flower per stem, and most of the flowers had green centers.

IN the end there were lots of pretty Sunflowers, and a few of the heads even matured enough to produce some edible seeds!

Honestly, the best Sunflowers I've ever grown have been volunteers from seeds that have fallen from plants in the garden the Fall before and sprouted the next season on their own. I guess that IS nature's way of doing it, so it makes sense that it works the best. The plants were stronger, tip over less easily in the wind and seem to be the healthiest. So, maybe I'll go out and broadcast the rest of the bag of seeds NOW, and see if that makes a difference. I'll let you know what I find out next year.