We are deep into spring here in Arizona and could not be happier that we already have buckets full of sunflowers. We started our first trays at the beginning of February and so far we have had wonderful blooms each week in April. We started with about 200 sunflowers a week and bumped it up to 300 in preparation for Mother’s Day. After the success we saw at the Farmer’s Market we started another 100 each week. I think we are at our max for the number of sunflowers we can start right now for our urban microfarm!

We have always loved the sunflower and grew it in Sedona alongside our vegetable garden. When we could keep the deer away from them they would get giant and bloom along the red rock view we had and create a beautiful scene.

Once we started to grow for markets we learned about the procut sunflowers and haven’t looked back.

Procuts are a variety of sunflowers that just produce one sunflower per stem. Once you harvest it, the plant is dine. These are really wonderful flowers to grow for selling because they are pollen free – which is amazing not to have pollen all over your house – and they are consistent. Procut Sunflower bloom 55 – 60 days after they are planted and are so reliable for growers.

We currently are deep into our Spring Colors and are loving how beautiful they look every week. Here are some of the varieties we are growing this year.

Peach

In my obsessive seed buying this winter I saw a new sunflower on several of the seed sites. I was pretty sure this one was going to be a hit and I bought 1000 seeds before I even knew really knew what it looked like. Well present Erica is grateful for past Erica as these Peach sunflowers have been a wonderful yellow/orange glow that softens as the petal ends. It has been fun to tell customers that they are buying some of the first Peach sunflowers too!

Orange

The classic sunflower. These lovely orange blooms with dark centers are the platonic ideal of sunflower. Everyone is drawn to these when they see them and it isn’t hard to see why!

Brilliance

Another classic sunflower look but with more yellow. These seem to glow in the field and are so bright and vibrant it is hard to look away.

White Light and White Night

White Sunflowers? Yes, indeed. I actually first fell in love with the white sunflowers after seeing another grower post about them on Instagram. Their soft beauty and the combination of the soft yellow white petals and the beautiful green were enough to hook me. There are two different varieties we grow. The White Light has a yellow center and the White Night has a dark center. Both are dramatic and beautiful and perfect for spring bouquets.

If you are interested in growing some of these in your garden you can find them at many seed sellers websites. I like to buy directly from Sunflower Selections, the company that invented the procuts! I hope that you enjoy these beauties in your garden or come buy some from us!