In late summer or early fall the large, yellow seed heads of sunflowers will be ripening. If gardeners can keep off the birds and other wildlife trying to eat the seeds, they can have a large harvest. The bright yellow blooms will make a rainbow garden, brightening up any space. However, planting the sunflower seeds is a skilled job. Plant seeds no deeper than the full length of itself. Smaller sized sunflowers can be spaced a foot apart. Larger varieties will need to be spaced as far apart as three feet. This allows ripe plants enough space for the seed heads to ripen without knocking the ripe seeds off before gardeners have a chance to harvest them. Most sunflower seeds, especially those with eatable seeds, are large enough to handle without the need for seed sorters. This is why sunflowers make an excellent choice for a children's garden as well. Gardeners will want to mix plenty of soil fertilizers into the ground as sunflowers tend to be heavy feeders. Sunflowers can be slow starters and the tiny new plants don't seem to grow very rapidly. Gardeners should protect the new plants as they begin to grow. Once they get going, sunflowers are able to _ many weeds, making them easier to grow in the home vegetable garden than many other plants. Most pests and diseases are not a bother to the sunflower, however, more than one gardener has said that their lovely looking plants were destroyed overnight by hungry squirrels, mice or birds. To preserve their harvest, gardeners can cover the ripening seed head with stockings or net cloth to help keep the destroyers off the seeds. Planting sunflower seeds is easy and can help even the smallest gardener feel successful in their gardening attempts. Why do children love to grow sunflowers in their garden?
They want to decorate their garden with sunflowers. The seeds are easy to plant and unnecessary to sort. They want to share their own harvest with their parents. Sunflowers don't need too much soil fertilizer.