🌻When's the best time to sow Sunflowers?

The best time to sow is April and May, Sunflowers are easy to grow and make a good introduction for children to gardening. For best results grow in a fertile, sheltered and sunny spot. 😍

• Sow in individual 10cm pots, cover with a plastic bag and place in a warm spot for the best chance of germination.
• Remove the plastic cover once the seedlings have appeared.
• When they are large enough to handle, harden them off gradually, for two/three weeks, then plant outdoors. 🌻
• When planting out, prepare the soil by removing any weeds and add plenty of good compost or well rotted manure. Plant them the same depth they were in the pot, water well. Taller varieties may need to be staked with a bamboo cane or similar.

• If your garden has a lot of slugs and snails it may be better to pot on into larger pots - allowing the plants to be bigger and consequently more resilient to slugs and snails! 🐌(for more information - see our blog on 'how do I get rid of slugs and snails'.)

• Alternatively just sow the seeds directly into the ground from mid April onwards.
• If you want to grow in pots, sow as you would normally - individually in small pots, then transfer to larger ones when big enough to handle (eventually into a 30cm pot), stake as necessary. 🌻
• Regardless of how big they are, don't plant out until the soil has warmed up and all risk of frost has gone.❄️
• Sunflowers need plenty of water and will not thrive if allowed to dry out.

Did you know? Sunflowers are related to Jerusalem artichokes! If you plant Jerusalem artichokes they will have beautiful sunflower-like flowers, providing the conditions are right. 🌞
Also, the Sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine 💙💛and symbolises peace, loyalty and optimism. 🌻🌻