Sunflowers - Sunshine to Go

Sunflowers have been around almost as long as dirt. They are one of the four major crops of the United States. The other three are blueberry, cranberry, and pecan. Native Americans have used Sunflowers for food and medicines for at least 8,000 years. They usually took the sunflower seeds and crushed and roasted them and made them into a fine meal for baking.

Face paint came from the pollen and dried petals. The oil that was extracted from the seeds was used as a potion for everything under the sun including cooking and a hair conditioner. The seeds were also used for something that was similar to peanut butter.

Sunflowers have been brought to life in books and paintings. Van Gogh painting titled Sunflowers shows the sunflower has been around for many years. This painting was done in the 1800's. There are several different varieties of sunflower. There is the huge variety that you can not use for fresh flower arrangements and then there are the new dwarf varieties that make excellent garden and container plants. There is a third variety of sunflower and that is the pollen-less variety. This type of sunflower makes for terrific fresh cut flowers and can turn an everyday flower arrangement into a breath-taking bouquet. Although seeds are produced with these varieties they are not big enough to save. Bring a little sunshine into your home with a fresh sunflower arrangement.