Sunflowers- Your Sunny Choice!
A sunflower represents an aura of liveliness, confidence, and sunny personality- true to its name. For this reason, it is a part of myth and all forms of art and seeks its origin in ancient times. The Greeks, for example, have a legend of a tree-nymph Clytie, who fell in love with the uninterested Apollo.
She, as a jilted lover started at sun for days till her body transformed into a green stem and her hair became golden petals, while her face became the flower itself. Even then she turned to the sun lovingly, which is a symbolic characteristic of the sunflower.
The love for sunflower has caught on with the present era. Though the plant is an American native, it came to the European land in the 16th century. It is now grown the world over. Sunflowers have tall stalks up to 10 feet or more. The stem has a flowering head composed of several florets bunched together. The florets are visible in yellow, orange and maroon colours. Inner florets become sunflower seeds upon maturing.
If you think that yellow is the only colour of sunflowers, you are in for surprise. Sunflowers come in white, lime, orange and double colours; while the most vivid being red sunflowers. The colour is an attractive red that becomes maroonish, closer to the head. Red sunflowers come typically as Prado red, Moulin Rouge and the Red Sun. If you are interested to growsunflower yourself, keep the following tips in mind:
1. The flower needs full sunlight or they will fall over turning towards one direction. 2. They can survive in many soil types e.g. – sand and clay will suffice for them as long as they are well-drained. 3. As far as the habitat is concerned, sunflowers can be produced best in low temperatures. 4. Spacing requirements range from 1-4 feet apart, depending on the sown variety – Miniature, Intermediate and Giant respectively. 5. Sunflowers are hardy plants so you really do not need to worry much about pest control; though keep watching out for birds and squirrels. 6. Phosphorus and Potassium fertilizers should be used if you want them to grow bigger. 7. Sunflowers are harvested within 80-120 days of planting depending on their variety.
Sunflowers have attracted famous painters over the decades. Vincent Van Gogh developed an affinity for sunflower paintings. Art lovers see the connection between his name and sunflowers which shine through his paintings and speak volumes to the viewers. Van Gogh sunflowers art pieces are vibrant and expressive giving meaning to growing, blooming and wilting sunflowers, in the unique style of the painter.
There is a flow of lift stages from one painting to another. Many festivals are arranged in the United States and other cultivating countries to appreciate the beauty and the vibrant aura of sunflowers. Farms and fields are the venues for these celebrations, where visitors see in awe the growing, blooming sunflowers.
Sunflowers are popular as online greeting cards with pictures of sunflowers to wish a good, sunny day. Sunflowers delivery services are also popular for sending those bright flowers to your loved ones to cheer them up.