HELIANTHUS – Sunflower
( From helios - sun ; anlhos - flower )
The Sunflower is sheer , he is tall , has a flock of braggadocio and bravado about him , but he is not vulgar ; no , he does not intrude upon us . We wish to have him reckon over our fences ; we wish to determine him looking down toward his human foot to see how marvelous he has grown . If any flower deserves the name of a “ Sunburst ” it surely is the Sunflower . It is the state bloom of Kansas .
The National Geographic Magazinehas interestingly said :
When the Spaniards first visited Peru they found the Sunflower as much the national blossom of the Incas as it today is the state bloom of Kansas . The Incas dedicate it a deep reverence because of its resemblance to the refulgent sun . In their temples , the priestesses wore Sunflowers on their bosom , carry them in lieu of tapers , and otherwise used them in their services . The Spanish invaders found many double of Sunflowers wrought with exquisite workmanship in virginal vestal gold . These wonderful images , among many others , serve to stimulate the cupidity of the conquistadors and thus to bring about the downfall of the Incas .
The Incas of Peru and the Hurons of our own nation alike were enjoy it as a cultivated craw when the white man first chaffer them . They used it much as the bamboo grower use the bamboo - as a Jack of all Services . Its seeds they found utilitarian alike as food and as the raw material of a home - made hair rock oil ; its petals were utilized in the manufacturing of a chicken dye ; its leaves served them as fresh fish and from its stalk they guarantee their train of thought .
In China its fiber is used as an adulterator of silk ; in southern Russia , the seeds are widely employed both in making rock oil and as a substitute for our earthnut . The pocketful of Sunflower semen plays the same role in some character of Russia as the bag of peanuts here . Much of the Sunflower oil bring about in Russia is used in making scoop and candles . Europe , Asia , and Africa all cultivate this plant .
The following pretty fable designate that the Sunflower which initiate in Peru , the home of the ancient sun - worshipping Incas , is not so humble in pedigree as some may imagine but may justly lay call to royal pedigree :
Oh , royal Sunflower , I mean I know why You always stare up at the azure drab sky ; Your bright , golden pate ever turned to the sun know how your life here on earth was begin . When the Sun , King of Day , first pull back for the night Behind the horizon to rest till daytime , He hung his gold crown on a horn of the moon . But the stars dance so high they shook it off before long , And it fell to the earth to be gemmed by the dew . Oh golden Sunflower that lost summit is you . Gussie Morrow Gage .
KINDS . There are two sort of annual Sunflowers . The seven or eight foot fellow isHelianthus annuus , of which there are many interesting forms ; some are attractively doubled , like Chrysanthemums , or Asters , some are dwarf , some are ball like , and look like prosperous Dahlias , while still others have been develop that are rich chestnut tree crimson either throughout or only in the center , wherein their chromaticity resemble the colors found in the Blanket flower .
The second interesting species is known by many names , such as Miniature , Cut and amount again , Dwarf Branching , and Cucumber will , but really isH. debilis ( H. cucumerifolius).It grows three or four groundwork tall and is bushy . The flower , unlike those of the first coinage , are usually only 3 inches in diameter , and the yellow petals are often wrestle
Where to Plant . The uses for the tall , large sorts readily paint a picture themselves ; there is always blank for a few of them in a garden . They make attractive hedges in the distance . They screen poultry yards and as the seeds drop down , they are greedily rust by the chickens . sunflower are grown in the moth-eaten northwest where corn is not a success . It is used for ensilage . Sunflowers in the garden become quite shabby in appearance after the midriff of August . The cut of meat - and - come - again variety are suited for cutting and are showy in the border .
GENERAL . The semen should be sown in the open terra firma when the trees are coming into foliage . A productive grease suit both sorts well . The tall forms should endure two feet apart , and the shorter ones a trivial close . The Cut - and - come - again assort commence to bloom in June and continue all Summer .
selective information on 50 + one-year flowers
