Please help w/ plant ideas to go w/ sunflowers

15 years ago

My kids asked if we could plant sunflowers this year. I have done them in the past, & they seemed fairly easy, so I told them we could. (Obviously, I am a novice gardener.) We live in a diff. house than what we did the last time I planted them, though. They will be seen from the street at this house, so I want it to look nice. They will be on the west side of my house so they will have plenty of sun.

My question: What should I plant w/ them to make the whole flower bed look nice? Since sunflowers get fairly tall will it look nice to plant a few diff. things w/ graduated height differences? Please help!

Featured Answer

terrene

14 years ago

You could plant a mixed variety of annual Sunflowers. They range from a few feet and good for cutting, to over 10 feet. In my "Tall" bed, I'm growing a patch of annual sunflowers on one end, perennials in the rest. Mammoth grey stripe will go in back because it grows about 8-12 feet tall and in front I'm planting shorter varieties of Sunflowers, a mix of yellow, lemon yellow, and rusty colors that grow 5-6 feet.

The critters absolutely go nuts over annual Sunflowers - the bees love them, and many species of birds, chipmunks, squirrels, etc feast off the seeds for several weeks when they're ripe. It was fun to watch!

You could look into Tithonia (Mexican sunflower), also an annual, grows about 5-6 feet, has more attractive foliage, and mixes well with annual Sunflowers. Tithonia is often grown in butterfly gardens because it's a premier nectar plant.

Comments (9)

Iris GW
15 years ago
Cosmos - the orange and yellow ones, Cosmos sulphureus, native to Mexico - are great to put with it. Asters get bushy and big, helping to hide the bare stalks of the sunflowers. Asclepias tuberosa, the orange butterfly weed is nice. Turk's cap (Malvaviscus sp.) has cute red flowers and attractive seed pods. Many forms of smaller, more dense Helianthus to pair with the big one (I assume you are planting the kind that make big seeds and one large flower?).

Wild quinine, Parthenium integrifolium has white flowers. Dwarf joe pye weed to provide late season blooms and also Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), a close relative, I think.
gottadance
15 years ago
What zone do you live in?
Related Discussions
Help! Looking for 20-25h 3-8w fast growing screen Ideas
Q
Comments (3)
The description sounds like arbs also some could wind up somewhat larger, especially as they attain great age. for the life of me i have a hard time differenting the varieties brandon and rushmore. hetz wintergreen has a slightly broader growth habit, but they are young they are very much like the others. rate of growth of all three is as fast as you'll find in arbs (t. occidentalis). all have the same primary claim to fame, resistance to winterburn.
...See More
??help decide oakcab uba tuba, or green butterfly go w fire ice
Q
Comments (12)
uba tuba, sure price is great within the first couple of levels we'd want to stay but... really just want something not too fancy for my house, I also like st celia too but want something w a little more contrast to my cabinets. My cabinets have alot a graining in them and don't want counters too busy either. It makes me a little more hesistant about the verde butterfly b/c it seems to have a more of a larger pattern but like i said hubby seems to like them better and i'm just confused wish i had a magic wand ii just want it to be pretty not regret or want to change something immediatly. All the granite people seem to be trying to steer me away from uba tuba too, i think they burnt out on seeing it so much a few years ago when they installed it so often. Those three I mentioned along with gallio something I did like but im just not crazy about anything else. I'm not a fancy girl, just a country farm girl from georgia so I tend to be attracted to the more plan granites I guess...?? But I love the brick fire and ice look for the backsplash and want it to match it too. thanks for all of your help
...See More
Advice please on w.c's -style and function- long w/pics
Q
Comments (9)
Yes, I know the post was really detailed. I waffled about whether to put that much detail in it, but felt like I'd covered the basic ideas/options myself but kept running into obstacles that I tried to outline in the post so folks maybe would understand the problems with most of the options I thought of. It was not my intent to make anyone's head explode. Thanks to all of you for your ideas, however. I do appreciate it. Igloochic, I hadn't really thought of hanging glass...that's an interesting option. I do like the Asian look of shoji which might work, maybe in a shutter? Marti8a, I love that pic...they were my first choice, but don't know if I can get a 9' span. Think I will have to visit a decor store that sells shades and see what they say. Thanks, again
...See More
36'w or 30'w, help please!
Q
Comments (18)
Suska6184, I was concerned about openign and closing these large drawers too. I visited a local showroom that had several banks of 42" and 48" drawers. I spent a whole day cooking and doing normal stuff in these kitchens, and I am sold. They were light and easy to open, all of them had blumotion and they worked so smoothly. It also allowed all the utensils I use to be at easy view level without having to shuffle through a drawer. I tend to be very regimented in the order that I put things. I am a scientist by training and these are similar to drawers that I had in the labs except not as large. Most drawers in my lab used to be 36-39" wide. Also, love the large lab sinks for this reason. I throughly agree on the pull out pantry though. I found the 15" pantry rather small. The 18" pantry was much more useful and seemed to hold more stuff and more sizes. Mackswim, I think you should really consider some small and narrow cabinets next to the hood because of glassware storage. Regarding the drop zone, will there be a wall that boundaries the 24" drawer to the left? If so, I wonder if the liebherr would create a visual stop. Just a thought. I think you can use that 24" cabinet differently. Bringing the fridge to the end of the wall and making the pantries a little larger would be great. Also, you have this great open space next to the fridge and stove. Do you have space in your island for a 6" cabinet to store trays and chopping boards and the like? I don't know where you are located but I spent about a month going to different showrooms to envision myself using many of these systems before I decided on them. My construction process starts in April and we hope to be done in August. Getting all the design and decisions made early are really important to me. A suggestion I say in a magazine has to do with a tilting pull out pantry that would make it easier to see the contents of the pantry. I will have to find a link to that system. Just some more ideas to complicate your decision making:-) Good luck!
...See More
maifleur01
15 years ago
Curious since sunflowers are generally annuals what difference does a zone make?
coolplantsguy
15 years ago
The zone is likely important for what anyone would suggest as companions to the Sunflowers.

My suggestion would be some ornamental grasses of varying forms and sizes, e.g. Miscanthus, Panicum, Pennisetum.
maifleur01
15 years ago
Thank you. I had my mind on annuals with children involved.
Children like to see things immediately. Grasses would be very nice.

I have seen at several garden shows large headed sunflowers that were only about 2 feet tall vs the really big ones. If you can find the seeds you could tell your children you are planting short ones for the toads. A small decorative toad house made by your children would be nice. It could be just a upside down clay pot
kwoods
15 years ago
Annual sunflowers are allelopathic. That doesn't mean you can't grow companions w/ them just that they do have some impact on the surrounding plants and on some more than others.

You wouldn't want to put them in a vegetable garden for instance.
docmom_gw
15 years ago
I'm hoping to grow zinnias with my sunflowers. I have both 36" and 15" varieties, so I'll put the sunflowers in back, the tall zinnias next, and finally the short zinnias.

Martha
cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
Cosmos are nice and easy to grow. As a poster suggested , they can be both a filler to hide bare stems of sunflowers, and they bloom beautifully. I like them mixed colors, white, pink,..
I would try to plant sunflower/cosmos arrangement toward east / northeast side of the garden, so they wont shade other shorter flowers/plants.

Wild Flowers gardening is an art form. There is no right or wrongs. It resemles to painting. But you have to pay attention to plants' requirements;
like, sun, shade, partial, soil type, watering, etc.Best one can do is to mimic the nature in a wild flower garden.
I believe that there shouln't be an obvious design and pattern in order to look more natural.
The reason I am suggesting these because this is wild flowers forum.

Please help w/ plant ideas to go w/ sunflowers

terrene

Comments (9)

Iris GW

gottadance

Related Discussions

maifleur01

coolplantsguy

maifleur01

kwoods

docmom_gw

cyrus_gardner

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US