If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce children to gardening and encourage them to learn more about how plants and flowers grow, why not kick-start their green-fingers with some simple sunflowers seeds this Spring?
Sunflower seeds can be sown until late May and the plants are fun and easy to grow, making them perfect for budding young gardeners. You can pick up a packet of Giant Sunflowers Seeds for just 50p from Wilko, where you’ll also find everything else you need to get growing, including mini gardening gloves, kids tools, compost and watering cans.
Giant Sunflower Seeds really do live up to their name and if you want to have a competition to see who can grow the tallest flower, then these are the seeds for you! They’ll quickly reach nearly two metres tall and feature enormous golden yellow heads which are sure to add a pop of colour to your garden all summer long.
These wildlife friendly flowers are also a magnet for bees, butterflies and other pollinators that play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
At this time of year you can sow seeds directly into the ground. Pick the spot that gets the most sun, dig a nice hole and add some compost to give your sunflower the best chance to hit the heights. Sow two or three seeds per hole, 2cm deep, leaving around 45cm between plants to allow them to grow and, to produce a real giant, remember to water frequently.
Slugs and snails do like to eat new shoots so a good way to protect seedlings is to cut the top off a plastic bottle and place it over them. Don’t forget to add markers at the base of the flowers so that you know who the tallest sunflower belongs to. Why not get little ones to paint a rock and use that as their marker?
If more than one seedling appears, wait until they reach around 12 cm tall and carefully pull up the smaller plant or plants – these can be grown elsewhere in the garden so don’t throw them away. Also, sunflower heads do get heavy so you might need canes on hand to support the plant as it grows.
In the meantime, sit back, keep your fingers crossed for sunshine and watch your sunflowers reach for the sky!