By Charlotte Torgovitsky.
In California we have both annuals like Delta Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus, and Giant Sunflowers, Helianthus californicus, which is an herbaceous perennial that dies back to a large taproot in the fall. Before major development along many rivers, and the subsequent restriction of the flood plains alongside these rivers, the Giant Sunflowers grew at the further edges of the natural flood plains.
Delta Sunflowers at Home Ground Habitats
Delta Sunflowers are prolific plants; at Home Ground Habitats they are growing almost everywhere to the great benefit of many, many birds and small mammals. The plants are really hardy, needing just full sun, average soils and average water. They are easy to start from seed, and once they are growing in your garden they will reseed year after year!
A Pollinator Superstar
Sunflowers are great pollinator plants; there are hundreds of tiny, fertile flowers in the central disc. Each one provides ample nectar and pollen and advertises this bounty to the insects (many of which can see in the ultraviolet range) as a very visible “bulls-eye”!
The seeds of Delta Sunflower are small; finches, titmice, and chickadees take seeds from the flowers, but many drop to the ground where ground feeders like Towhees, Juncos, and other sparrows forage. Goldfinches also love their “greens” and will skeletonize the leaves, eating all but the veins of the leaf. Squirrels have figured out how to pull down a plant so that they can just take and eat the whole flower!
The Myth of Sunflowers Following the Sun
It’s actually a charming myth that the sunflowers “follow the sun”! What really happens, and only while the plant is still young, is that the opposite sides of the stems grow at different times of the day. At night the western side of the stem puts on growth that pushes the flower to face the rising sun in the mornings, which is best for pollinating insects. During the day the eastern side of the stem elongates, pushing the flowerhead towards the west. Sunflowers look like they are tracking the sun, but this doesn’t really happen in mature plants.
Bird Feeders vs Creating Habitat
Many of us delight in watching the lively visitors that come to our bird feeders. During a stretch of home construction, I had to take mine down for several months. When I put them out again, I was interested in seeing who would discover them first. I thought it would be the Scrub Jays – but I was wrong! First at the feeders was a curious Titmouse, then the House Finches, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Nuthatches; and then the Scrub Jays!
It’s important to recognize, though, that the seeds we buy to fill our feeders are a profitable crop produced by large-scale Agribusiness, often grown in huge pesticide-laden, monoculture fields that displace natural habitats and decrease biodiversity.
If you do use bird feeders, choose high-quality black oil sunflower seed, preferably organic, and avoid mixes with low-quality filler. Birds, however, benefit most from foraging for a variety of natural foods—including seeds and insects—provided by plants in a natural setting. Realizing that all sorts of habitat has been destroyed by industrial agriculture, we can still enjoy the birds at our feeders – BUT – it is so much better to create more habitat, and make our gardens biodiverse habitat sanctuaries, with lots and lots of cheerful sunflowers during the summer months, and allowing flowers to go to seed for the birds!
Come Visit Home Ground Habitats
Right now at Home Ground Habitats you can see the Delta Sunflowers still in bloom, with birds happily nibbling away at the seeds. Come enjoy the beauty of our gardens, check out of wide variety of rare seeds, and browse our new huge fall inventory of habitat plants ready for fall planting! Our proceeds go to funding local school and community habitat projects.
Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 1-4pm
