Awww poo! Ima gonna have ta get out there with a machette! Now that is sad!
SUNFLOWER CONTEST..no rules, just post yours!
Hey BB, what is that? I just can't make it out with these old eyes. Here's my contribution, not the big winners but they showed their heads with pride anyway!
Here is the bee makin use of the sunnys.
Whooohooo for you haighr!!!
Its a bee making use of a sunny! Enlarge it! I just got fancy and framed it!
And so it begins, the loping of heads...terris big single sunny was the first to go....
A perfect seeder there!
Nice sunny Candee! And I hope you all come join our Kale/Best Fall Planter Contest!
Just so you all know, we're planning on planting a sunny patch next year so everyone better look out!!!! :)
Okay Steven, we'll be watching out for it!
That looks like enough seed for an entire country BB!
hehehe~
got me several of these buckets full and more to chop lop!
Beautiful white heads, are they gray stripe?
here is one of my sunflower
Nice sunny Lili! I always like the smaller blooms!
Yes, its funny that the heads were much less in size than their parent head! I have some that were so tiny from those giant heads you would think they were a different variety, but it is only the product of my poor sandy unfertile soil and lack of rain!
Check this minis out.. and these really truly are from a giant grey stripe!!! An eiighteen inch head to be exact!! Beleivei it or not Ripley!
And this one!
Gardengus - welcome to this forum. In answer to your question from last week, yes, there are those of us who do plant the ornamental sunflowers for arrangements only. Like you, I planted a few of these about 4 years ago. I let one flower seed, and then let it reseed. Some years I have a few plants, other years, like this one, only one plant. It is tall, but sends out numerous side shoots.
From this one plant, I made this arrangement first.
A couple of weeks later, this one.
And then, today, I cut a few branches and added them to these cycad leaves. These cycad leaves were from an arrangement 3 weeks ago, and they still look as good as the day I cut them. So, one plant supplied enough blossoms for at least three occasions. There is probably enough for one more.
Blossom - I have never seen a white sunflower head. Those look great!!
yeah, what kind of sunflower is that white sunflower head?
hi does any one need rain
i will send you some
lol
day to work inside
elle
Soils, Lili, those are the grey stripes. We had to cut the heads a liltl premature and we took the pollen off of them so the seed could dry and the deer would not eat them.
I also had volunteers come up in the sunny patch. So those bronze haloed ones I showed above are gonna be cross pollenated on the grey stripes so who knows what it is!
We just toss any kind of sunny to that patch. We harvest as much seed as we can get for the following year and we keep trying to make the patch bigger. So basically my seeds are of who knows what later, a grand mix so to speak. I get people sending us seed to add to the project too because there is a lot of seed that drops and goes to the wild birds. We are hoping the wild turkeys come back! The deer are eading my heads now! ANyone with excess seed that they just want to get rid of, they can D-mail me. We are also taking seed that wouldbe appropriate to restor what grows on our prairie. Things like gaillardia, laitris, blackeyed susan, many more. Its for the bees and the butterflys too.
There are white petaled sunnies, but I dont know what the name of the variety would be.
Bee eyes!!! LOL! Gads how the bees love sunnies! Yup, real live bees!!!
I don't have any sunnies here but I have lots of black eyed susans!
LOL! Close but no cigar! terri said my heliopsis dint count soz...guesn your suzies are no contestados! But they are sure niff purdy!
I got me some wild sunny seeds today.... I think they are a perennial.. but probably not a contestant either....! Well, I think we need to look to 2010 for the next sunny contest!
The sunflower I posted on the 25th is now in full bloom.
I took this picture a couple days ago...I counted the open blooms today and there are...???
Any one want to guess???
I will send the closest guess a pack of seeds ^_^
55?
40....
Ok There were 88 blooms showing color.
Because there were only two guessers Both get seeds when they are ripe .
Please send me a D- mail with your address
^_^ Cinda
wow! 88? that is crazy! Thanks for the seeds. Sending you dmail now.
Thanks gus!
Ok, now that I have whaaacked just about every sunflower in the place...
Yes, just call me Lizzy! I have beaheded them all!
I am having a hard tiome drying and storing the heads with out the mice getting in to them. I have tried paperbagging them.. they are molding.. so I have to do the juggling thing daily to keep them from going to compost?
Any one got any ideas? Here I thought this was gonna be an easy project! Seed harvesting... not... not with so many heads!
(edited for spelling!)
This message was edited Sep 15, 2009 8:37 AM
Found this on Google, hope it helps
Quoting:
Drying sunflowers – On the stem
You can easily let nature take its course when it comes to drying sunflowers, and allow the drying process to occur naturally on the stem. If you are drying sunflowers this way you should keep an eye out for when the backside of the sunflower's head turns yellow and the petals have fallen off. Once this has happened you need to act fast if you do not wish to lose all of your sunflower seeds to the ground! Use a brown paper bag to cover the head and this will also protect it from birds, squirrels and other critters that are interested in the sunflower seeds too. The paper bag helps the sunflower head still "breathe" and prevents moisture from accumulating in the bag and turning the seeds moldy. (If it rains, you may need to replace the bag with another in case the bag gets soggy or tears.) Dry your sunflowers like this until their heads turn brown on the backside - then it is time for harvesting. Simply collect the head by cutting the sunflower off one foot down on the stem, making sure you don't lose the paper bag off the top in the process!
Drying sunflowers – Early harvesting
If you do not want to struggle against birds, squirrels and other critters competing to get a taste of your sunflower seeds before you do, there is another way to dry your sunflowers. When you see the signs of the yellowing of the backside of the sunflower head you simply harvest them right at that point. Cut the heads down leaving about one foot of stem below the head. You can then dry your sunflowers where ever you want to, as long as it is warm and dry with good ventilation to prevent molding. A small shed might be perfect, or even in your house. You may still want to cover the seed heads with paper bags, especially if drying in an outdoor shed! But primarily, as long the sunflowers are kept warm, dry and sheltered, you'll be able to successfully harvest the seeds. Simply run your hand over the sunflower head and the seeds will pop right out.
Oooooh
ick
ick
ICK! I have suffered major losses in the drying of my sunnies!
I was not able to get them out of the paperbags on time and they molded and went to mush very severely! They are fuzzy and slimmy and just GA-ROSS!
I tried to dry them in the GPS.. but the humiditity was waaay too high and struggled with the mice getting into them. Just had waaay too many and not enough space to do it.
I came away with possibly three small pans of them. They are moly, but looks like maybe not mushy...so maybe I can salvage those few.
GA-ros! GAH-ros! GAHHHH-ROOOOS!
more sunflwoer disaster...ick,this is gonna have to go out to the field...maaaaaybe I might get some volunteers off of it, but its pretty yicky!
I thought y'all might enjoy this shot.
Awesome!
Well as I live and breath it is tc, whohoooooooooooo! How you been? Think of you often when we go up to the cabin. Hope you stick around a while, what's new?
BB, you have a real disaster on your hands. I put hose over the head of mine and just let them in the garden, they are pretty soggy today so we shall see?
Well hey haighr! Long time no see! Or hear!! I'm doin fine. Hope you and your's are also!
Yep my friend, heading into the hunting season at the cabin. I often think of you with your tent round the corner. We do have bears up there now so camping likely not a real smart idea, Steve doesn't even want me to walk over the mountain alone these days.
Steve is now retired and doing a lot around both places, much as he can anyway with his back problems. We have 3 grandbabies now and although they don't get here often, we do get to spend some time with them. They loved the apple tree there at the cabin, it is really full this year and Steve and Tim shook it and they got rained on with apples and was the funniest thing they did all day!
Say howdy to all your way,
Candee & Steve
Here are a couple of mine. BEV
This one I call "Beautifully Bent"
