oh my goodness, those are beautiful! what varities are they? i'd love to know!

Vera
They really are pretty, yes tell us what variety they are.
Alberta

They look great with the purple flowers behind them... i'll have to try some..

Oh, Vera, those are great! Please tell us what kind and where you got the seeds. :)
Thanks!
Rosemary

I wish I knew the variety! You'll have to ask poppy_power :D
They were just marked "Dwarf Sunflower 2-3'"!! She may have received them marked the same.
vnginger....those are Larkspur 'Earl Grey' behind the sunnie.

Type in Dwarf Sunflower, seed in the Google search engine and you'll find a few vendors....Parks Seed and Seedman.com were the first two :D

LOL! I just found a pic of the same type I planted in another location...they are still in the seed-leaf stage. The pic was taken on April 18th...a few days after I planted them out. Temps dropped will into the 20's April 20th-27th and without protection they kept on keeping on :D
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I love dwarf sunflowers! Every year I grow Big Smile and Pacino, and I pot them up (in blue pots, of course, lol!) and place them on my patio.

Last year I tried Sunny (or was it Sunny Smile??) and I think I need another year to decide about that one!

Nice pics, Vera! Thanks - I can use a nice dose of sunflowers on this 1-degree day! Brrr!!

:)
Dee

vera ... how do you protect them??? last year i had such cute, little ones, but as soon as they bloomed something would bite the heads off ...

some were IN POTS on the porch close to my front door, so i don't think it was a rabbit (they usually aren't that brazen; but chipmunks are ... or could it have been birds? ... i was heartbroken ... & it happened over & over & over again!

any suggestions? thanks, phyl

I just love sunflowers but they can be a bit overpowering so I tried some dwarf varieties a couple of years ago. One was called Teddy or teddy bear (can't remember) and it was a double flowered variety that was very nice. I think it gets about 2-3' tall The second one that I got was called Incredible and states that it was a true dwarf variety. It grows about 18" and is great for smaller pots!
Love your pics, Vera! :)
Lois

Phyl, I had the same exact problem and it was also happening to my coneflowers so I asked the insect and disease forum about it and someone id'd the problem for me.. It is not an animal but a bug called a Sunflower stem cutting weavil, I believe that is the correct name.. I did research on the net and sure enough I found the bugs on my sunflowers and coneflowers.. They are a small black weavil that cut the stem right below the bloom.. They then lay their eggs in the stem and then they hatch into larvae and when the stem finally drops off to the ground they go into the ground to wait for the following spring and do the cycle all over again.. I read that drought can make them worse.. They are only out a month or so and I think that is like July-August I believe.. They reeked havick on so many of my coneflowers and sunflowers.. Next year I know what to look for and will try to stay ahead of them though I have not found where it says what to use to control them.. It said they can damage a whole sunflower crop..

Love sunnies as well. But do feel overwhelmed by the big ones. I did a few dwarf varieties last year. But just had the new variety for pots arrive from Pinetree today. :)I'm very excited to try them.
Monica

nature nut, that is some interesting info - thanks! Luckily I haven't had a problem like that so far, but it's always good to know these things just in case.

Monica, what variety are your new sunflower seeds?

:)
Dee

Dee, I hope this info helps others out.. I wanted to cry last year and for the life of me I could not understand how all my plant stems had this perfect cut, it looked as though someone came along with scissors and cut every stem, but only 3 quarters of the way off so it just hung there.. One thing I did forget to mention that I read on the internet about them.. They are very sensitive to any type of movement and will hide under the leaves if they feel any vibration or see a shadow, pretty smart little heathens they are!!

Oh no! I hope I never see that problem! Sounds horrible to say the least :(

Dwarf sunflowers ! I never thought of trying them, but now, of course, I will. Great idea.

I think you just solved a mystery for me, with the stem cutting weavil info. I had some zinnias and other flowers that I would find on the ground, in perfect shape except that they had been cut from the stem, right below the bloom. Now I know what to look for.

Carol

wow,naturenut, that is soooo interesting; and makes sense ... i could not for the life of me figure out what could be causing such a wierd phenomena ...

do you think spraying with something like sevin would kill them ... maybe something systemic??? .... it frightens me to think the larvae is in my soil now, & will be back this summer! ... any other suggestions?
thanks, phyl

Vera and Diggerdee,

Thanks-You, Thank-you!!! I have been growing the very tall giant varieties, but have been longing to grow the short ones again. I used to grow loads of them years ago in the city before we moved here. The first year we were here, DD and I planted about 40 of them in a small meadow next to the house. Just as they were about to bloom, the deers came by and decimated them.

But you've both been enabling with this post - Vera by reminding me of how much I liked them, and Diggerdee by saying you're potting them up and placing them on your patio. We have a deck that is 8 feet off the ground and I found some nice HUGE pots on garbage day a few weeks ago at my neighbour's. I am so excited about seeing these again around me this coming year!! Oh, I could just give you both a big HUG!!!

And yes Diggerdee, you are right!! It's nice to see those lovely yellows on such a cold day (-10F here today).

I've also caught squirrels in the act of stealing the entire heads. These buggers also had a fancy for taking my unripe tomatoes - the weirdest squirrels that I've ever seen.

I now keep them out of my birdseed by mixing in powdered hot pepper - they hate it and the birds don't mind one bit. If the squirrels here at my new house also develop a taste for the sunflowers/tomatoes, I'll surely be trying a dusting of the hot stuff there as well.

(I have no experience with this weevil things, but thought I'd add on in case anyone else had the same squirrel problem.)

I had a few foes on my sunflowers this year that I had never seen before- They were the Sunflower Maggot- A very pretty looking fly, actually. I had trouble collecting seeds on some of my sunflowers as the flower heads were pretty distorted and did not develop correctly-
I think I will try neem- or some of the chrysanthemum spray if they come around again...
Look towards the bottom of this link for sunflower pests...

Here is a link that might be useful: More pests

Dee
Sorry it was Park Seeds and the new true dwarf variety this year is Choco Sun. The picture with it in the pots sold me.
Monica

Phyl, I read and read and never did find an answer to the problem. I thought about sevin but these things are a hard shell insect so it is going to be tricky.. I thought when this happens next year as I see the stems cut I am going to remove the whole stem, before it falls off, and burn it to try and get rid of the larvae.. The larvae feed on the stems, well the insides of the stems..

Tiffy, you're so sweet! Enjoy all your sunflowers on your deck this summer!

Monica, that Choco Sun is gorgeous. Sigh. I don't think there is a single sunflower that I DON'T like! Well, I don't really care for Teddy Bear, but every other sunflower, it seems I just have to have. Not good when you have as much shade as I do, lol!

Dee

P.S. I'm sure if I saw Teddy Bear "in person" I would fall in love with IT too!

Here is a link that might be useful: choco sun

Dee
Thanks for linking the photo.....
Monica

Does anyone have pictures of multicolored sunflowers in their gardens? If so I would love to see them!