Sunflowers
 

Mine are roughly 15-feet tall. Prob.: Staking them. Are there stakes as tall?

I am rather proud of them, and I don't want them to snap or break.

I haven't seen stakes that tall - and if there were, how in the devil would you transport them home?

:confused:

:p

I normally don't use a stake as high as my larger plants though - certainly not as high as my sunflowers. Not that mine ever got that big. Congrats on that BTW. How about a pic?

Mine ot about 10 -12 ft, and I tied them to the fence.

Just find the sturdiest, tallest stake you can - check the garden centers - and try that. It should do.

Wow those are some tall sunflowers! Never had mine get that big!!!!

I've never staked my sunflowers but I have had them fall over, snap and break (they were quite large at that point). Maybe this year as they get bigger, I'll put some sticks to help support them, at least at the base, until they are strong enough.

Two years ago my DD took sunflowers from her hamster's food and planted them. Boy did we have beautiful sunflowers that year!! :D We had some interesting corn too! :eek:

I'll get some pics today.

I lost one of the sunflower plants last week. After that, a friend used a bunch of stakes, stacked on top of one another and duct tape, to prevent more from breaking. But, now, with them so tall, and still growing, that won't work any longer. The tallest ones are also achored to the fence around my garden.

Winds here were 30 mph. yesterday. Thank goodness, no more snapped.

I think, they need to stop growing now. They are plenty tall.

Here are three photos... taken this afternoon.

they are HUGE bobbi! :D

i have seen people grow them and string lines going across their yards. i don't think that would work.

what can you find close to that tall???

Wow! What gorgeous sunflowers!!

Those are INDEED some mammoth sunflowers !! :eek:

I got several diff. types of seeds this spring, mixed them all together (some only get 3ft, some up to 10 it says on pkg) and planted a 20 ft. row along the side of our veggie garden. I also have dahlia and zinnia growing in that same area. Would we ever impress the neighbors when they could see the flowers above the 6ft privacy fence!!! LOL We basically planted them not only for the beauty, but for the birds as well. HOPEFULLY we'll have some left to actually get full heads on them before birdy friends attack them. LOL

A "bird-friendly" means to deter birdies from pecking before the flowers are actually ready?

Cut thin strips of plastic and tie them around the area. Birds don't like movement. Even a light breeze will cause the plastic strips to waft.

I had a major bird prob. last Summer. The plastic strips did the trick.

I've no idea how the heck the flowers got so tall. They were supposed to grow 6' to 8'. I planted them indoors and transferred outside in March. (Last year, I was late in planting and wanted an earlier start.). I think, I've got 48 growing.

I'm doing this backward; these pics are the earlier growth stages of the sunflowers (same ones).

I think I'm gonna miss them when the season's over. It'll look bare.

That's some yard! Maybe the other thread should be gardening tips with Bobbi and Flygirl!

:)

Uh, what do you charge per hour for landscaping?

:D

Bobbi...
 

Those are great plants.

You deserve to be proud of them!

Are they a special cultivar? Or do you just feed them some
magic fertilizer? LOL

I guess you don't have deer or groundhogs? Rabbits?
My sunflowers never get over 12 inches before something eats them.

The photos show mostly garden. The yard itself is separate :wink:.

Yesterday, the flowers opened (?) on three of the Sunflowers. Yippeeeeee.

I took more pictures. Each year that I've had a garden I document its stages with photos and make a garden scrapbook at the end of the season.

I could spend the entire day in it, if the temps. weren't triple digit and the sky wasn't all polluted with particles from the massive fire in Paradise, CA. The smoke is saturating and, from satellite images being aired on news here, sitting over the valley here.


MrsD., some of the seeds, that grew the Sunflowers in the photos, came from some of the ones I grew last season. I was curious to find out whether they'd grow. Looks like they did! I just water, water, water and water them more. I'd read somewhere that Sunflowers are quite thirsty.

Last season, I had massive probs. with Blue Jays. I planted and nothing grew. Uhh, the birds made off with the seeds. Then, I found out about using thin plastic strips and tied them everywhere. It has deterred birds from seed hunting, but hasn't stopped them from nesting in my Sequoia (sp?) trees, which is good. They're cute and I love seeing and hearing them. But I do prefer they not make off with everything.

Sooo, this year, I did nearly everything as starters inside.

No rabbits, etc., but a pooch who enjoys picking peas. Guess where they are? Her tummy! This is my furry pea-picker:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/album.php?albumid=8


P.S.: Last year, I did use Miracle Gro(w). After losing so much money this year (being laid off) and having to get people so I could have "my people" help with financial planning etc., I couldn't bring myself to spend money on plant care items. I know, I know, it's probably worth the money; I just couldn't bring myself to spend it, though.

For snail deterrent, I've been using crushed egg shells. I've been having people save theirs and give them to me - after they've rinsed, dried and crushed the shells. I can't even believe people are actually doing it for me. :)

Yesterday, one of my neighbors gave me ice cream for some of my garden's zuchinni. She works for an ice cream maker company; it's a quite price-y brand. I think, one of us got the better end of the deal :D.