Suppose you might try spraying the center of the flowers with hairspray before bringing them in ....

^^ Ooh, good idea!

At least the bees are happy.

So sad, pollenless sunflowers. The eviroment loses out to human aesthetics. Love seeks not its own.

I love the hairspray idea. Grow sunflowers that can benefit the crucially valuable pollinators, but keep the pollen from making a mess indoors.

Martha

Hi Cathy,

Actually, the sunflower in your picture could be pollen-less. Those bees don't have any visible pollen balls on their hind legs, and there isn't any visible yellow powder in your picture. I suspect those bees are gathering nectar from that sunflower bloom. Most of the bees in my zinnias are collecting nectar, and not pollen. The occasional pollen collectors have visible yellow balls of pollen on their hind legs.

ZM

Hi Michele,

" I specifically chose pollen-less varieties of sunflower and what do I get? Yellow pollen all over the table... "

Just out of curiosity, do you happen to have available the names of the varieties of the so-called pollen-less sunflowers that failed to live up to their name? And, did you buy them from a seed company? If so, they might respond to a complaint in this matter. This pollen-less issue could be more than just a matter of a mess on a table -- some people could have serious allergies and this could lead to a medical emergency for them.

ZM

I do, and bought from a seed company, but I don't remember which are which -- they all resemble one another out there (except Autumn Beauty - Autumn Beauty is Autumn Beauty, and she is not the variety I cut at that time), and I didn't mark the transplants - just jumbled them all together when I planted them. Can't go by height, either -- they were all supposed to top out at 48-60" and what do I have? Some that, I kid you not -- are closer to 8-9'. They sure are pretty to look at out the window, though :0)

mxk3, I grew Copper Queen (pollenless) this year and have really liked it. Bees and butterflies are crazy about it. I may try some other varieties next year.

Edited to add that hummingbirds love sunflowers, too. Even the pollenless varieties are loaded with nectar.