AboutLong Island Gardener Expertise Decisions, decisions... If you can't make up your mind which Annuals to grow, you're not alone. Problem with your new flowering Annuals flats? I`ve been there, done that. Petunias, Sweet Alyssum, Larkspur, Marine Blue Lobelia -- they all grow here at my house on Garden Street on Long Island, N.Y.. Cutting and Cottage Gardens, Sun and Shade Gardens, White Gardens and Night Gardens, I`ve done them all. Annuals are the perfect summer flower, bursting with color June through fall's first frost. I can`t speak on Cactus or tender Tropical Plants -- they don`t grow outside in my Zone 7. I`m no Farmer, so I cannot guide you on Fruits and Vegetables. But whether it`s an Annual you want to start from seed, mail-order or pick up at your local garden center, I can help you grow amazing blooms this Summer. Yes, together, we can turn your neighbors green with envy.
Experience I have a lifetime of gardening behind me here on the North Shore of Long Island. While I have degrees in related fields, there's nothing like hands-on work to build real knowledge. I stay on top of current science -- there's a boom in research, and Kingdom Plantae is filled with surprises. By the way, I really do live on Garden Street.
Publications Gannett newspapers, The New York Times, and hundreds of others - but not on Annuals.
Education/Credentials B.A., botany; graduate credits in European Intellectual History and Political Science; minor coursework in related fields, docent training at our local botanical gardens (required for volunteers). I'm currently working on an advanced biochemistry degree.
Awards and Honors I could tell you, but then you'd know who I am.
I have several yellow Del Sol Hybrid sunflowers. A few weeks ago the large sunflower at the top of each plant bloomed and now they are completely wilted. However, there are numerous smaller sunflowers and flower buds appearing towards the bottom of each plant (see picture). I would greatly appreciate if you would please let me know if sunflowers usually get multiple flowers per plant, and if its OK to remove the large wilted flower at the top. Thank you.
Answer Sunflowers are just about the easiest thing in the world to grow. These are basically fancy weeds that have become very, very popular.
It looks like you are simply growing a very healthy plant. The shoot at the base is not unusual. Your plant is pouring out blooms as fast as it can, which is good, and sending up shoots with what's left.
You have a choice about what to do with your spent -- or, as you are saying, 'wilted' -- flowers.
You can clip them off (which is almost always the best choice of action -- except with a few annuals, including Sunflowers). Take a scissors or a sharp fingernail and cut off the 'wilted' flower. This is also a guilt free way of cutting flowers and stems for a bouquet -- you don't have to bother clipping off the used up spent flowers. The advantage of removing a used up flower is not just to keep the plant pretty. By taking the flower off the plant, you keep the plant from using up all its energy to make seeds. And believe me, it takes a LOT of energy to make seeds. These plants will make more flowers, instead. And that's why we grow them.
Actually, though, this gives us option number 2, because not everybody grows Sunflowers because they are pretty. People grow them precisely because of the seeds. Maybe even you.
We eat them. Birds eat them. People grow them again later, or next year. Sunflower seeds are unlike Marigold seeds or Dahlia seeds. They are food for some people and animals.
Should you fertilize them? Depends. The most important thing for Sunflowers is something you have never heard of and I can barely spell: Fungal Mycorrhizae. Memorize THAT for your mother next time you see her and watch to see the reaction. FUN-gull my-COR-hizz-eye. That puts you in a whole new league. Because these are new discoveries that we are learning more about every day. Look on my website to see what Mycorrhizae can do for your Sunflower, what they are probably ALREADY doing for your Sunflower as we speak, and why this is BETTER than fertilizing your Sunflower:
www.thelongislandgardener.com
For an action shot, the best I can do is this YouTube video of a Sunflower experiment with (+) and without (-) Fungal Mycorrhizae in the plant:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-enRFMXLXU
I recommend you watch it with the sound off if you have a headache.
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