i'm so ready for spring, i even went looking outside today to see if any of my bulbs were pushing up any growth :)

i think that different heights & colors would look better than all the same. although when they're all the same, that looks good too. i picked up a packet this year of some sunflowers that are more of a lemon color....we'll see if they turn out well. i also have thought about getting the ones that are red.
i also like the pics of the dwarf sunflowers, but haven't seen anyone grow them, or i just haven't noticed them. will keep a lookout this year.

i suggest to put a group of the tall ones in the middle, then put different varieties to the sides of the tall ones. just a thought :)

Flowers definitely will not disturb sprinkler pipes. It would have to be a tree to do any damage. Have fun!

May I suggest wintersowing your sunflower seeds? I start mine every year about the third week of April. I always have great germination and results.

zubaby,

Red sunflowers?! OOOH now that sounds enticing!

stevation,

That's good to know! Thanks!

dereks,

I'd have to beg, borrow or steal some containers. That or eat a lot from the deli. So much for my diet! HA! LOL

Libby,

You can use milk jugs. That's what I'm going to do, and I have six of them waiting for me to find time to sow now. There's a good thread on this in the Rocky Mountain forum, with photos of some milk jug and soda bottle containers. See it at the link below and scroll down the Feb 8th post with photos. Pretty helpful stuff!

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing thread

Would half gallon jugs do? That's all I buy since I'm on a diet & use fat free, but son's not on a diet & uses full fat, neither of us going through much milk in one week, & hubby is lactose intolerant so he drinks none.

That's probably fine, but I'm a newbie at winter sowing, so I don't know if there's some concern I wouldn't know about with smaller containers. You could ask a friend or neighbor to save gallon milk jugs. Anyway, if people use soda bottles, I'm sure the half-gallon milk jugs aren't much smaller across than that, right?

I think with any container you need to worry more about depth not width. You want at least three to four inches of soil or else you won't have the room for root growth and your containers would dry out too fast.

I can always look in the recycling bins for gallon milk jugs & 2-liter soda bottles. We don't use soda bottles.

Oh & by the way, after Wed's "lovely" storm, which I had to drive in from Murray to the AFB, I was ready to scream! Hurry up warm weather!

Well libby at least the next several day look to be nice. But the long range outlook is for cold and wet to return. I guess that is ok, we don't want it warming up too much too soon. It is only February. But, like you, I am anxious to get outside again.

from my experience with sunflowers in Utah, growing them is never the problem. getting rid of them if or rather when they self sow and are scattered by the birds.

i have sowed directly in the dirt in fall, spring and summer. they grow so fast, it really does not matter when you plant them withing reason for you to see a bloom. but the growth can also be a problem with sowing them indoors as they get very leggy very quickly even if planted outside without enough sunlight. unless you have a greenhouse, i think you would be better off planting directly into the dirt. they will grow when the time is right. if you plant indoors and winter lasts a mere two weeks longer than you expected, you might have some pretty weak plants that are not worth sending to their death outdoors. patients, spring is coming.

another note. sunflowers have a tap root, but sometimes will be very shallow rooted when there is surface water available. i have seem many large sunflowers uproot in wind when the soil is moist just like a tree. consider staking an large varieties or tying them to you chain link fence. remove the flowers before they drop seeds unless you like weeding.

good luck!

I have a new dilemma. I don't know what to do now about the southwest to west side areas of the back lawn where I'd be planting the sunflowers, which will be peeing distance of our neighbors' new puppy. The old neighbors had a dog & it destroyed our lawn in some pretty big spots all along that part of the chain link fence. :(

Maybe I just won't plant on that side.

Anyhow, I'll be on the lookout for seeds. I don't want to buy too many & I know there is quite the variety on the market. I'm going to stay with the sunflowers that actually look like such. For instance, I don't like the looks of "Teddy Bear".