Everything about the sunflower.
A plant with a mathematical flower head, a political history, and a name in every language. From the seed to the paintings of Van Gogh, from the field next to your village to the sunflower oil in your pantry — a reference that holds up, even when you are eight.
Twelve main topics, one plant.
Each page is a self-contained article — no filler, no repetition, with sources. Start where you are curious.
Biology & anatomy
Why a flower head is actually hundreds of flowers, why the seed spiral follows the golden ratio, and what heliotropism really means.
Read more →Species & cultivars
From the wild Helianthus annuus to 'Russian Mammoth' and 'Teddy Bear'. A comparative guide by height, colour and garden fit.
Read more →Growing in your garden
Sowing calendar for Northern Europe, planting depth, spacing, water and feed. A step-by-step that actually works, no Pinterest myths.
Read more →In a pot or on a balcony
Which cultivars work in a pot, how much soil volume you need, and how to prevent the plant toppling in the first storm.
Read more →Problems & diseases
Drooping leaves, white patches, slugs, mildew. Diagnosis by symptom, with photos and what you can do tonight.
Read more →Harvesting & saving seed
When a head is ripe (the clue is on the back), how to dry the seed, and which cultivars you cannot regrow from your own seed.
Read more →History
Domesticated in North America around 3000 BCE, carried to Europe by Spanish ships around 1510, and since 1838 a symbol of Russia and Ukraine.
Read more →Art & culture
Van Gogh's seven paintings, the national flower of Ukraine, the symbol of the Green party. Why this flower carries so much meaning.
Read more →Symbolism
Loyalty, joy, peace, resistance. Per culture, including the Victorian flower language and the modern emoji meaning.
Read more →Oil & food
How sunflower oil is pressed, the difference between high-oleic and linoleic, nutritional value of the seeds and how to cook with them.
Read more →Bees & biodiversity
A single flower head feeds many visitors. Which wild bees specifically depend on sunflowers — and how to help them.
Read more →For kids
Worksheets, colouring sheets, a growth diary to keep, and kitchen-table experiments. Made for children from 5 to 12.
Read more →One flower? Hundreds of flowers.
What looks like a single yellow flower with a brown button is in fact a composite inflorescence. The yellow "petals" are each a ray floret of their own and are sterile. The brown button in the middle holds five hundred to two thousand small disc florets, and those make the seed.
The spiral at the centre is not a coincidence. Each new floret grows at roughly 137.5° relative to the previous one — the so-called golden angle. That pattern packs the seeds as evenly as possible across the disc, leaving no gaps or overlap. Count the spirals running clockwise and anti-clockwise: they are always consecutive Fibonacci numbers. In large heads, almost always 34 and 55, or 55 and 89.
→ Read the full anatomy of the flower head · → Why Fibonacci numbers?
From seed to seed, in six stages.
An annual plant runs its whole life in roughly 120 days. Below are the six stages with the proper names botanists use — handy for school or for your growth diary.
Germination
The radicle breaks through the seed coat at 10°C soil temperature.
Seedling
Two cotyledons followed by the first true leaves.
Vegetative growth
Stem extends; leaf pairs form. Heliotropism begins.
Bud formation
The flower bud develops; the plant tracks the sun during the day.
Bloom
Ray florets open. Mature head fixes facing east.
Seed ripening
Head bends forward, back turns yellow. Time to harvest.
Find a sunflower field near you.
An interactive map of publicly accessible sunflower fields across Europe, with bloom period per location. Click a pin for address, best month and what is there to do. We expand the map every summer with visitor reports.
Coordinates in this version are examples. Locations are verified before going public — a field that no longer exists does not belong on a map.
Lesson material kids actually want to open.
Free printable PDFs, online experiments, and a growth diary you can paste photos into. Made together with a Dutch primary-school teacher — every sheet tested in a real classroom before it appears here.
Colouring sheets
Eight printable colouring pages with anatomically correct flowers.
Worksheets
Cut-out lifecycle, count the seeds, label the flower head.
Experiments
Coloured-water experiment, sprouting in a glass jar, counting Fibonacci.
Growth diary
Track 14 weeks, with ruler markings and pockets for photos.
Five popular cultivars, honestly compared.
No fairy tales. Height, flower colour, fit for your situation, and whether the seeds are edible. For the full list of over thirty cultivars: cultivar database.
| Cultivar | Height | Flower head | Best for | Seeds edible? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian Mammoth | 2.4–3.7 m | One large yellow head, 30 cm | Height contest | Yes, large seed |
| Teddy Bear | 0.5–0.9 m | Fluffy, dahlia-like | Pot, balcony, kids | No, little seed |
| Velvet Queen | 1.5–1.8 m | Deep red, velvet | Cut flower, photography | A little |
| Lemon Queen | 1.5–2 m | Pale yellow, branched | Bees, long bloom | Yes |
| ProCut Orange | 1.2–1.5 m | Deep orange, pollen-free | Bouquets without stains | No, F1 hybrid |
What people ask us most.
How long until a sunflower blooms?
From sowing it takes 80 to 120 days, depending on cultivar and temperature. In Northern Europe you sow late April or early May and the plant blooms from July to September. For pot cultivars like Teddy Bear it is earlier — sometimes after 70 days.
Does a sunflower really follow the sun?
Only young plants. Heliotropism happens up to just before bloom: the stem grows faster on the east side during the day and on the west side at night. Mature flowers face permanently east — research from UC Davis (Science, 2016) shows they warm up faster in the morning and attract five times more bees.
How tall can a sunflower grow?
Garden cultivars reach 1.5 to 3 metres. The world record stands at 9.17 m, set by Hans-Peter Schiffer in Karst, Germany in 2014, recorded by Guinness World Records. He used the cultivar 'Sunzilla' and a custom support.
Where does the sunflower originally come from?
From North America. Archaeological evidence from Tennessee and Mexico dates domestication to 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Spanish navigators brought the seed back to Europe around 1510, where it was initially grown as an ornamental in botanical gardens. Only in Russia did it become a large-scale oil crop.
Can you sow sunflower seed from the supermarket?
Seed sold for eating is usually roasted or pasteurised and will not germinate. Use untreated seed from a garden centre or seed you saved from your own flower head last year. With F1 hybrid cultivars like ProCut, the second generation usually does not grow identical to the parent.
Are sunflowers toxic to dogs, cats or horses?
No. The ASPCA and the Dutch animal-welfare association classify sunflowers as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses. An animal can get an upset stomach if it eats large amounts of leaves or seed husks.
Can I walk into a sunflower field for photos?
No. Almost all fields in the Netherlands are commercial — for oil, bird seed or hybrid seed. Walking in damages the crop and is effectively trespassing on private land. This site lists only fields that are explicitly open to the public, often pick-your-own where you pay per stem.