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Few things bring to mind an American Fall season quite like Sunflowers…well, maybe pumpkins, but we’re going with Sunflowers on this one. A native plant to America, the Sunflower (Helianthus annus) is an annually blooming plant and can grow to be over 3 meters tall. The Sunflower is well known for exhibiting heliotropism, or following the path of the sun throughout the day from east to west. While there are certainly a number of ways to go about getting Sunflowers to decorate with this Fall season, here are some thoughts on what to keep in mind in case you’ve decided that you want to grow your own.

Plan Ahead to Plant Early

If you want to grow your own Sunflowers than you had better plan ahead and plan to plant in early Spring. Getting the seeds into the ground by between March and August, with mid-May being an ideal time, is the best way to go to ensure that you get maximum return on the seeds that you plan. Also, make sure you test the soil where you’ll be planting well ahead to make sure that there’s not too much Nitrogen in the soil, but that there is a good amount of Potassium and Phosphorus.

Give Yourself Enough Space

Growing Sunflowers can take up some space, so make sure that you have enough space devoted to the amount of plants that you will be growing. You’ll want to plant each seed roughly 1 to 2 inches deep into moist soil, spacing the seeds 12 inches apart in rows that are spaced between 2 and 2 ½ feet apart. If you’re planning on growing a larger varietal of Sunflower than you may want to give yourself even more space to allow for the added size.

Managing the Plants

Your Sunflowers plant should mature in roughly 60 to 90 days at which point they will need to be cut daily. The best time to cut your Sunflower plants is in either the early morning or late afternoon. Once you’ve cut your Sunflowers you’ll want to immerse them in clean buckets filled with water and a solution of Quick Dip to open their pores. Refrigerating them within a few hours of cutting ensures that they will last long once they are put on display.

Ready by Fall

Depending on when you plant your Sunflowers they can be ready to be cut anywhere from September and into October. You can display your Sunflowers in any number of ways, to having them be the center of a large display to using them as a way to add color and vibrancy to an existing floral arrangement. If properly managed and prepared before being put into an arrangement, your Sunflowers can maintain their fresh flowers appearance for upwards of two weeks.

Just in Case

Ok, so you can see that it’s not really that hard to grow your own beautiful Sunflowers for your Fall floral arrangements, but what if you don’t have the time, or the green thumb, to grow your own Sunflowers. Well there are number of places that will offer fresh flowers this time of year, chief amongst them being Sunflowers. While there is certainly a certain satisfaction in growing your own flowers, if you don’t have the time or space to do so, there’s certainly nothing wrong with deciding to buy flowers from your local florist and having them include some fresh Sunflowers for you.

About the Author Steve Papoulakos is the president of Vogue Flowers and has been in the floral industry for over 22 years, offering fresh flowers and flowers online for those looking for quality and experience. Vogue Flowers can be found at: http://www.vogueflowers.com

Gardening Articles

Christmas nowadays is celebrated as early as November right after the celebration of Halloween. For a holiday that speaks of good tidings and cheer, people get excited and get caught up to boast their own Christmas spirits and cheerfulness through the colorful decorations that adorn their houses and lawns. These decorations as we all know involve the floral variety. Most people opt for dried and artificial flowers for practical reasons. Common sense tells us that these lovely little things do decay over time and that would not paint such a pretty picture. However, this does not stop many to choose fresh flowers. There are ways to go around this flower decaying reality, little acts of care and attention to preserve and maintain the beauty of the petals all throughout the holiday season.

Getting a good florist

Florists these days seem to be blooming simultaneously with the flowers that they are putting up for sale. There are your local florists where you can go visit and browse through the stands of wonderful posies and get your own selection. Or for some people, online florists are the way to go. Whichever way you choose, there are a lot of things to consider in settling on a good florist. The basic questions would include the specialty of the florist for one. Your chosen florist should be able to cater to your floral needs, if not all efforts would seem futile. Second is to look at his experience and reputation. Word of mouth is a good way to get this information. Ask around. Third is on customer service. Do they look after their customer’s orders efficiently? Do they deliver? These little considerations could add up to your great advantage. And lastly, think about your budget. Are your florist’s products and services within your price range? Flowers are getting to be expensive these days. It is important to take into account your expenses for flowers as these are not the only things that you are going to be spending on during the holidays. Also, it would be a plus if you get a florist that listens to your needs and gives you suggestions and recommendations. Let us admit it. As much as we love flowers, we are not all experts when it comes to choosing them.

Flower tips

Here are a few pointers and words of advice on taking care of your flowers this Christmas season. When purchasing fresh plants, it is recommended that you buy them early. Choose those plants that will flower longer. Opt for buds than open flowers. This gives you more time for them to bloom and flower out. Make sure that the flowering plant you are buying is of high quality. For poinsettias, the bracts or the leaves of the plant should be fully colored. Its buds however should still be green and closed up tightly. If you cannot figure if your plant is of quality or not, this is where the reason for choosing a good trusty florist comes in. It is important that you keep your plant in a room with the right temperature. Too hot or too cold temperatures could ruin it.

James Brown writes about http://www.flowergardennursery.com

More Articles On Flower Gardening

First, this bug has many names. Some of it’s names are:
lady bugs
ladybugs
lady beetle
asiatic lady beetle
Asian Lady Beetle
Asian Lady Bugs
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle

The Ladybird Beetle is the correct name for a Lady bug and are not bugs but are beetles. Worldwide there are nearly 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs of which 400 are found in North America. The Convergent Lady Beetle is the most common beneficial species of Ladybird beetle in North America.

The life cycle of all Lady Bugs are mainly the same. The eggs are laid in the spring. When they hatch the larvae will feed for a couple of weeks and then pupate into adults. During the winter they will hibernate or will have died in the fall. Springtime they awake to feed and lay more eggs again.

As a form of biological pest control Lady Bugs are widely used and are the best known. Besides eating their favorite food aphids they also eat mites, scales, whitefly, mealybugs and most other soft insects. They are known to eat cabbage moths, bollworms, tomato hornworms and broccoli worms. These bugs will eat up to 1,000 aphids in it’s lifetime in both their larvae and adult stages.

The most common complaint against the Lady Bug is that when they are released they will fly off and let the aphids have their feast with your roses and tomato plants. But really only a part of your release will venture off, the rest will eat all the aphids they can find and then maybe fly off.

-There are a couple of tricks you can do to keep your Ladybugs-

1. Only release the ladybugs in the evening since they are not known to fly at night when it is cooler.

2. Take a can of soda and mix it with equal amounts of water and spray on the Lady Bugs just before you release them. The sugar will make the wings sticky for just a couple days so they will hang around at least for awhile and eat the pests. Since Lady Beetles claim certain areas home they will stay in your yard and make it their home and the females will start laying eggs in and around your garden.

-What about Lady Beetles in the house-

We are glad to have these beetles hang around and control the pests just like mother nature intended.If they stay at your place over winter they will look for a nice cozy place to stay and that is where your home comes into the picture.

These bugs don’t seem to have any logic to picking a house they just have found yours and they like it there. In the yard and garden they were welcome guests, in your home not so welcome. What we want to do is ask the lady bugs to leave. They don’t speak our language.

-So a few suggestions to try-

1. Get out your vacuum cleaner and find the hose attachment.

2. Get a nylon stocking and place it inside the hose with the top of the stocking overlapping the end of the hose and place the hose attachment end nozzle on this to keep the stocking on.

3. Start the vacuum and get the bugs cleaned up. This will keep the bugs alive and then you can take them outside and release in another area away from your home. Refrigerate for next spring or give them to a friend with a green house.

The ladybugs may be a problem outside the house also, help them relocate by:

1. Spray water at them with the garden hose.

2. Use your leaf blower and blow them away.

3. Upset the lady bugs and eventually they will move on to another location.

Needless to say they are a very beneficial bug, but for some people bugs are not their favorite. They can be helpful and at the same time create a problem. What we need to do is learn to live with our tiny friends and make sure they stay around.

By: James Ellison

Congratulations on your interest in growing sunflowers! The sunflower is one of the most widely recognized flowers of all time. It emits a sense of warmth and joy. This large flower blooms in a wide variety of yellows, pinks, and even reds. With a little care you will be rewarded by the most noble of garden beauties. Ask anyone who has grown them and their eyes will light up with excitement. The many varieties have something to offer gardeners of any age regardless of space limitations. So let’s get busy and you will have a garden to be proud of in no time.

Selecting a Growing Location

Your first must decide on where you want to grow your sunflowers. Consider the following:
• Sun and Wind Exposure - As the name implies, sunflowers like the sun and do best when in a sunny location. A general guideline is to pick a spot that receives at least 6 hours of sunlight daily. If planted in a shady area, sunflowers may stretch to reach sun and thus will require additional staking support as they will if planted in a windy area. Tall varieties are often planted on a fence line to help with support.
• Orientation to Other Plants – Particularly with the taller varieties of sunflowers you will want to consider how they may block sun and wind from your other garden plants. This can be a good thing if you are trying to shelter particular garden plants from too much sun or wind, but you must also consider if your sunflowers are going to negatively impact your other sun loving plants when selecting the best spot for your new friends. Some people feel close to sunflowers because they are at eye level and bend to look you in the face. Sunflowers will face east at maturity so this may also be a factor you want to consider in their placement.
• Days to Maturity – Most sunflower varieties have a maturity between 75 and 110 days. The nice thing is that you can grow them from the last freeze until winter sets in again. Consider planting a few each week to insure staggered blooms and enjoyment throughout the growing season. Stop planting 75-100 days before the first winter freeze is expected in your location.
• Annual or Perennial Varieties – By far, most people plant annual sunflowers, but if you only plant annuals you are missing out on some beautiful long term friends. Perennials may take one to three seasons to begin producing blooms, but they are well worth the wait and can be great producers of flowers for years to come.
• Color Coordination for your Garden – Most people are familiar with the classic giant sunflower with one large yellow flower with a dark center. Fortunately for us sunflower lovers, there are many different colors and varieties to choose from. Vincent Van Gogh loved sunflowers for this reason. Take the time to select and place different size and color varieties as you paint the canvas of your new landscape. Some gardeners like to use larger varieties as the backdrop and progress to mid sized and then small varieties as they get closer to the house or other public sitting areas.
• Plant size and spacing – If you want to have the most success with sunflowers and want your plants to be healthy it is generally best to follow the recommended spacing when planting. This will dictate how many plants you can have in a given area. Pay close attention to the spaces you intend to fill with sunflowers when you are selecting which varieties to plant.
• Containers, Planter Beds or Open Space – With the increasing popularity and development of dwarf varieties more people are planting sunflowers in containers than ever before. Containers smaller than six inches are generally not recommended. Even if the plants can tolerate them, they dry out too quickly. In small six inch pots you generally will only want to plant one plant of a dwarf variety that has a mature height of three feet or less. Generally in this small pot the dwarf plants will not reach more than two feet. If you are planting in medium or large pots, eight inches and larger, you can slightly bend the rules for suggested spacing for the variety and plant three individual plants in each pot. It is still better to stick with small varieties (less than three feet) for medium pots and small or medium (three to five foot) varieties for large pots. It is absolutely critical that your containers have drainage holes. Sunflowers need well drained soil.
• Is Pollen a Factor – Most people do not have problems with the pollen from sunflower gardens. If you or someone you know is particularly sensitive to pollen you are in luck. Many varieties of sunflower are pollen free.
• Uses intended for plants – Consider if you would like to have a steady supply of cut flowers from your plants. Some varieties are particularly good for long lasting cut flowers. With flower preservatives in the water and weekly water changes some varieties can last for several weeks. Are you a bird lover? Birds are particularly fond of the seeds produced by some varieties and butterflies are attracted by others. Do you intend to harvest and roast the seeds? Sunflowers have a myriad of uses. In the garden the stocks of large varieties can be dried and tied together to form rustic trellises for other plants and make good poles to help support plants including future generations of sunflowers.
• Soil and Weather conditions – In general you will do best to adequately prepare the soil in transplanting, but some varieties of sunflower are particularly good in poor soil conditions. Some are particularly strong for extra hot conditions and periods of dry soil. If your plants are going in a windy area you may want to consider bushy, branching varieties and/or be prepared to steak your plants.

The following is a list of some of the popular varieties of sunflower and gives characteristics for each plant. Only one Perennial variety is listed and only a few dwarfs, but their certainly are more varieties of each available at seed and plant vendors.

• Mammoth Russian Striped - Will do well in poor soil. Tolerates heat and dry conditions. Average head size is 10-15 inches, but they have reached 20 inches. Plants should be spaced 12-18″ and grow to 8′+. Days to Maturity - 100-110.
• Moulin Rouge - An excellent red with dark disc. Single flowers have a dark deep red color that are 5-7″ in diameter. These 6′ plants are very vigorous and make any garden a show place. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 6′. Days to Maturity – 90.
• Skyscraper - Heat and drought tolerant. Great for bird feed and roasting heavy yielder! Will do well in poor soil. Will do well in poor soil. Stake to support plants. Large heads attract birds. Makes a great ornamental backdrop. Plants should be spaced 12-18″ and grow to 12′. Days to Maturity – 75.
• Ruby Eclipse - Showy ruby red or pink flowers display lemon yellow tips. Ruby Eclipse Sunflowers are pollen free; ideal for cutting. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 6′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Dove Hybrid Black Oil - Frequently used in bird seed mixes and called “black oil” sunflower seed. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 6′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Sonja - Flowers and more flowers. Sonja Sunflower blooms so heavily it can be hard to spot foliage. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 3.5′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Dwarf Sunspot - Great plant for the family garden, children love it! Full 10″ heads on short stem. Heads last up to 5 weeks. Plants should be spaced 12″ and grow to 2-3′. Days to Maturity - 80-90.
• Teddy Bear - Small bushy sunflower grows to 18-36″, double yellow blooms 3-6″. Good cutflower. Plants should be spaced 12″ and grow to 3′. Days to Maturity - 80-90.
• Autumn Beauty - Mixture of fall colors on 5″ flowers. Multiflorous type. Heat and drought tolerant. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 5-6′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Velvet Queen - Will do well in poor soil. Stake to support plants. Multi-blooms on numerous side branches. Small seed is favored by birds. Not a large seeded (roasting) type. Great for cut flowers, borders, backgrounds and temporary screens. Plants should be spaced 18″ and grow to 4-6′. Days to Maturity 100-110.
• Italian White - Plants have many branches. Multiple 4″ flowers have brown centers surrounded by a band of buttery-yellow and then white pointed petals. Not a good cut flower. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 5-6′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Lemon Queen - Produces multiple 4″ blooms. The lemon yellow petals are slightly pointed, and surround a dark chocolate brown center. There is also a Perennial Sunflower by this name. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 7-8′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Indian Blanket - Resembles Autumn Beauty with darker colors, multi-heading. 4-5″ blooms. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 5-7′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Red Sun - Multiflora type bears medium size 5-6″ blooms in shades of deep dark orange-red with a hint of yellow around the brown center. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 5-6′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Tithonia Torch - Dahlia like flowers in orange, yellow and brilliant red. Trim faded flowers to promote longer blooming. Plants should be spaced 24″ and grow to 2-5′. Days to Maturity - 90.
• Maximillian – Perennial - Makes a bold statement! Strong stems are covered with dozens of sunny yellow, 2-3″ blooms from midsummer to frost. A favorite of birds and butterflies! Long-lived plants thrive in heat, drought and even poor soil. A natural for cutting. . Plants should be spaced 2-3′ and grow to 4-7′.

Selecting Your Sunflowers

The foundation from which your sunflower garden is built starts with the seeds. Starting with seeds from reputable vendors will insure that your seeds are fresh, healthy and have a high germinations rate.

Quality Products

You can find the best online sources for quality seeds and other products mentioned in this article at the website mentioned in the About the Author Section of this article.

Varieties

Each of the vendors mentioned above has up to a dozen varieties and combined they carry over thirty different varieties for you to enjoy. Remember to plan out your garden and carefully consider the spaces you intend to occupy with sunflowers and the varieties that will do best for those spaces. Don’t limit yourself to only a couple varieties. By selecting and growing a wide variety of sunflowers you will find out which ones you enjoy best and are most successful growing in your area and can improve your garden from one season to the next.

Seeds or Plants

Sunflowers are easy to start from seeds, but some people prefer to start from bare root or potted plants particularly for perennial varieties. If you decide to use this method for starting all or some of your sunflowers you will just need to successfully transplant the small plants to your containers or garden. Plants are available from a few excellent online vendors who guarantee delivery of healthy plants to your door.

Starting From Seed

If you decide to start your sunflowers from seed which is the most common way you will have several methods to consider each of which has advantages and disadvantages.
• Direct seed method – Sunflower seeds can be sowed directly in the garden or containers, and in some instances this may be a viable choice. One problem is that seeds and small plants are much more susceptible to falling victim to pests and predators than even two or three week old transplants. In many areas the birds or rodents will dig up your seeds and have a feast before the seeds even get a chance to sprout. It may be more difficult to care for the germination and care of the young plants in your garden because seeds and sprouts must be kept moist and not be allowed to dry out. One other possible disadvantage is that you will always have some seeds that don’t make it to becoming viable sunflower plants. If you are trying to have uniform planting in your garden it may be easier using transplants that have already been selected as strong prospects. For these reasons and others it is generally recommended that you germinate your seeds before transplanting in the garden or containers.
Using Professional Seed Starting Trays – Some people prefer to start many seeds at a time in professional seed starting trays which are a plastic tray with separate compartments for each plant and a drip pan. With this method you can start as many as three dozen seeds in one try and be able to weed out the weak ones and get the sprouts off to a great start before planting them in your garden where they will face harsher elements and predators. With this method you will want to use a potting mix that is specifically designed for starting seeds. These mixes are finer than even premium potting mixes and contain all the nutrition that your sprouts will need to make it through their first two or three weeks.

This method is certainly acceptable, but it too has some draw backs. There is a chance even if you are careful when transplanting the plants from the container that you will damage the root system and stress the young transplant. It is for this reason that the following method may just be the best one available.
Starting with Peat Pots or Pellets – Peat pots are small pots that are made of pressed peat moss. They can be filled with seed starting mix and planted in the garden when your transplants are ready. There is however, an even easier alternative. Peat pellets are an ingenious innovation that consists of a compressed peat wafer inside a biodegradable mesh case. When the pellet is soaked in water it swells to five times its size and makes the ideal starting medium for your seeds. You simply push a seed or two in the top of each soaked pellet place them near a sunny window and keep them moist. You can even buy these with plastic trays that have clear lids on them and act as mini greenhouses for sprouting your seeds. With these lids you often won’t even need to add additional water to your pellets until after your seeds sprout. Once the seeds sprout you just remove the lid and continue to water your sprouts until they form their second set of real leaves, generally two to three weeks. Then just plant the bags in the garden.

Transplanting to the Garden or Containers

Transplanting is an exciting time. It is when you take the young plants that you have so carefully germinated from seed and place them in your garden where with proper care they will take off like wildfire. There are a few important considerations as you begin this phase of your sunflower adventure.

Spacing Considerations

New gardeners seem to be particularly prone to overcrowding their plants. Whether this is caused by a desire not to sacrifice any weak stragglers, or a desire to get as many plants in a given area as possible it is a serious mistake that will hamper your ability to grow quality plants. It is important to select the strongest young plants to include in your garden. As a general rule the seeds that germinate first tend to grow faster and produce stronger plants, by being picky and only selecting perhaps the top 50% of your starts to transplant into your garden you will be helping to insure a strong crop. Next, it is extremely important to try to follow spacing guidelines that are specified on seed packets for each variety of plant. Failure to do so will result in less healthy, rangy plants that are struggling to compete with one another for food, water, sun, and root and air space.

Preparing Soil

Sunflowers can be grown in a wide variety of soil types and conditions. Regardless of the type or condition of the soil into which you will be transplanting your young plants, it is a good idea to specially prepare the immediate area where each plant will be placed. A good recommendation is to dig a small six inch by six inch hole for each plant. You will then fill this hole with specially prepared soil for your transplant. This soil should consist of premium potting soil with time release fertilizer mixed in. Premium potting soil will either be labeled as such or will be one of the more expensive mixtures. With potting soil you generally get what you pay for. Do not use soil labeled as top soil or garden soil. These blends compact too easily. The premium potting soil will hold moisture and allow your young plants root systems to develop quickly. The time release fertilizer will help to feed your plants for up to four months and add extra insurance to your regular fertilizing schedule. If you prefer to grow your plants organically you can use crab shell meal or fish pellets instead of the time release fertilizer to add to your soil.

Caring for your Growing Plants
Fertilizers – What Kind and How Often

If you have started your plants well they will have a good foundation for growth. You will want to have a regular feeding program for best results. Plants require three main nutrients to be healthy: nitrogen which promotes healthy foliage, phosphorus which promotes flowers and potassium which is for strong roots and overall vigor. All fertilizer products list the ratios of these three components in the order given above. Thus a label that reads 10-15-10 signifies that 10% of the contents is nitrogen, 15% is phosphorus and 10% is potassium. When your plants are in the growth stage, before their flowers start to form you can promote healthy foliage growth by fertilizing every two weeks with a chemical or organic fertilizer that has a nutrient sequence of 20-10-10 or one with the same ratio. Once your plants begin to form flowers you will want to switch your biweekly fertilization to a product with a ration of 10-20-10

One last tip! Sunflowers are generally hardy plants, but you can help to keep them pest free by spraying them with a mixture of ½ table spoon of liquid dish detergent to one quart of water each week.

Organic Gardening Articles: http://www.organicgardenarticles.com/