Sunflowers
$4.00
Cheerful, towering sunflowers that are the ultimate garden showstopper. Our selection includes giant varieties for the back of the border and smaller types for cutting gardens. A magnet for pollinators, birds, and smiles.
Growing Tips
Direct sow after last frost — sunflowers grow fast and do not like transplanting. Mongolian Giants need staking or support in windy areas. Our Owens Valley sun produces excellent sunflowers with strong stalks and heavy seed heads. Leave spent heads for the birds in fall, or harvest seeds for roasting. Sunflower roots exude allelopathic compounds — rotate their location each year.
Owens Valley only. Pickup in Big Pine or local delivery.
Varieties We Carry
- •Mongolian Giant (8-12 feet tall with massive dinner-plate-sized heads)
- •Red Torch (stunning red and yellow bicolor blooms)
- •Ring of Fire (striking red and yellow flame pattern, 4-6 feet), and other selections)
More Flowers
Marigold
Bright, cheerful marigolds that earn their place in every garden as both beauty and bodyguard. They repel many common pests, attract pollinators, and bloom nonstop from planting to frost. Growing tips: Marigolds are one of the most foolproof annual flowers. Direct sow or transplant after last frost. Deadhead spent blooms to keep them flowering. French marigolds (smaller) are best for pest deterrence near vegetables; African marigolds (taller) make a bigger visual impact. In our climate, marigolds thrive on neglect — they prefer less water and lean soil. Plant them around tomatoes, peppers, and squash as companion plants.
Calendula Marigold
Medicinal calendula (pot marigold) with edible orange and yellow petals — not to be confused with common marigolds. Calendula is used in healing salves, skin care products, herbal teas, and as a beautiful edible flower. Growing tips: Calendula is one of the most useful plants in the garden. The petals have anti-inflammatory and skin-healing properties — infuse them in olive oil for a soothing salve. Scatter fresh petals in salads for a pop of color, or use as a natural food coloring (sometimes called "poor man's saffron"). Calendula prefers cool weather and blooms best in spring and fall. In our climate, it self-sows readily and often pops up in unexpected places — a welcome volunteer.
Zinnia
Vibrant, long-lasting zinnias in a rainbow of colors that bloom from midsummer until frost. The ultimate cut-and-come-again flower — the more you cut, the more they bloom. Growing tips: Direct sow after last frost — zinnias grow fast in warm soil. They are tailor-made for our Owens Valley climate: they love heat, full sun, and can handle our alkaline soil. Space plants for good air circulation to prevent powdery mildew. Deadhead regularly or, better yet, cut armloads of flowers for the house — cutting encourages more blooms. Mix heights and colors for a cottage-garden look. Zinnias attract butterflies like no other flower.
Snapdragon
Charming snapdragons with flower spikes in every color of the rainbow. Kids love squeezing the dragon "mouths" open — adults love the vertical drama and cottage-garden charm. Excellent cut flowers. Growing tips: Snapdragons are cool-season flowers that bloom best in spring and fall. In Big Pine, plant transplants in early spring for spring-through-early-summer bloom. They may pause in the hottest part of summer, then rebloom in fall. Pinch the first central spike to encourage branching and more flower stems. Snapdragons are short-lived perennials that often self-sow. Dwarf varieties work well in containers and borders; tall types are stunning in cutting gardens.