Autumn Beauty Sunflower Seed Packet
Plant Size Guide

Autumn Beauty Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus) 50 seeds per packet
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Days to maturity: 70 days
Plant spacing: 1-2 per square foot
Sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours
Look out for: leaf miners, plants falling over
Harvest notes: harvest as cut flower with 12” stem
annual
Sunflowers add a really cheerful element to a garden and they attract many beneficial insects including bees and butterflies. They are very easy to grow in South Florida because they love hot weather and sandy soil. In order to get a strong straight stem on your sunflowers you’ll need full sun exposure and regular watering. They are heavy feeders so make sure to fertilize and use compost when possible. There are two types of sunflowers, single stem and branching. The single stem sunflowers produce one single bloom and the branching types produce multiple blooms over the period of about 2 weeks. Branching types should be pinched so that all of the blooms are of equal size and stem length. If you don’t pinch them they will still make multiple blooms, but they’ll have one big blooms and a bunch of smaller blooms underneath. We typically choose branching types for our gardens because they make so much more beauty but single stems are fun too because they are so tall and “Dr. Seussy”.
To direct seed sunflowers just plant a seed in the garden and keep it moist during germination and early growth. You can choose to over-plant an area and thin to 1 plants per square foot before any true leaves form, which means you can eat the thinned plants as “sunflower shoots”. You can also eat sunflower buds like artichokes, but you have to get them at exactly the right stage of growth before they form any petals or begin to open at all.
Delivery Details
Delivery Details
When you place your order we head into our greenhouse to select the very best plants we have in stock for your garden. We label them with handwritten compostable wooden labels and pack them in recyclable boxes to keep them safe on their journey. Our delivery partners, Roadie, take it from there and head to the Redlands to pick up your order. Communication and tracking take place via Roadie and your driver will leave your plants in a safe and covered area.
Plant Care
Plant Care
When your plant delivery arrives, make sure you water your new plants thoroughly with a light spray of water (none of this thumb over the hose stuff). We recommend planting them within 10 days of receiving them. If you do intent to wait to plant them, we recommend placing them in a shallow reservoir (like a baking pan) and filling it with half an inch of water so they can drink the water from below while you are at work and place them in an area with plenty of sun. When planting in your garden always add a dash of Organic granular fertilizer, and give them extra water during their first week in their new home, while they adjust. We recommend disturbing the root ball as little as possible during planting.
About Our Plants
About Our Plants
All of our plants are grown in OMRI certified Organic materials (potting mix, fertilizer, seeds, etc.) and include Organic granular fertilizer, living locally-made compost, and have been cared for with healthy microorganisms from compost tea and microbial inoculants. We only use organic pesticides when needed. We only stock varieties that we have experience growing and that are season and climate appropriate for South Florida. Our curated inventory is simple enough for a beginner and interesting enough to keep an advanced gardeners attention, with new and rare varieties being added weekly.
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Now Little River Nursery & Little River Gardens
Two new names, one guiding vision; to empower people through food and ecology. For more information on our garden installation services visit the Little River Gardens website.

